Evangeline
by Lilly Deadwalker
Summary: Evangeline was married to the king asshole of Fairy Tail, Laxus Dreyar. The key words there is was. What happened exactly? Will they get back together? And what other secrets is Evangeline hiding? Follow Evangeline on her journey to finding herself, and what it means to love. What is means to be a family.
1. Present: The Intro

**Hi everyone! This is a completely new story from me! This will be a different format than In the Dark. Thanks for coming and checking it out. Note: This story does have an OC and may have more in the future. I wanted to have something that's just a bit different than what I'm currently working on with In the Dark.**

**Update 9/6. Edited for continuity.**

Evangeline Aspen was annoyed. Nothing at the guild hall had caused her annoyance. It wasn't that there were multiple large iron rods sticking out of the main part of the guild hall. It wasn't that Mira was fuming, even though she was very much affected by the white-haired demon's emotions. No, this was more about who wasn't at the guild hall, and who had just refused to return to help fight against Phantom Lord.

As an S-Class herself, she knew the responsibility that all the S-Class mages had to protecting the guild, especially since Guildarts wasn't anywhere nearby. Laxus was breaking one of the unwritten rules that all S-Class mages followed by not returning.

"Ev," Mira said from behind the bar, pulling her out of her thoughts. Evangeline looked up at her.

"Hmm?"

"Ev, you were scaring people. You know how your magic gets when you get upset," Mira lightly scolded. Evangeline stopped her magic flow immediately. She didn't even realize that it was leaking from her.

"Mira, I thought I told you not to call me that anymore," Evangeline sighed. She was trying to get away from the nickname that Laxus had given her when they were younger, back when they were still innocent kids. Things weren't the same anymore. They never would be.

"Sorry, Evangeline. It's a lot to get used to after calling you that the whole time I've known you," Mira said, smiling sadly at her. Evangeline smiled softly back at her.

"I'm okay, Mira. In all honesty, I'm not mad about him not coming back now. It's nice to have space after everything that happened," she said quietly. She turned to look behind her at the new blonde girl in the corner. She was so young, and Evangeline could feel she had already faced a lot of trauma in her life. Evangeline could also tell by her magic that she would be very powerful in the future.

"I hope she'll be okay," Mira whispered to her, looking at Lucy in the corner as well. Evangeline turned back to face Mira.

"She will be, but the next few days will be a lot for all of us," Evangeline whispered back. Mira frowned at her.

"You can already tell how this plays out, huh?" Mira asked her. "It's been years since you've seen something like this, and almost a year since you've seen anything else. Why now?"

"I saw it a long time ago, Mira. Back before the issues with Laxus started, before everything else. When I was genuinely happy. My magic is so tied to emotions that all of the issues really messed it up," Evangeline told her. Mira nodded while keeping her eyes on the woman sitting in front of her.

"Have you had other issues, or just this part of your magic?" Mira asked, curious now as to why Evangeline was bringing this up now.

"It's affected every part of it. It's gotten a lot darker, and some parts I just can't use at all," Evangeline said gravely. Mira looked down at the bar top. "Anyway, I think new girl needs a strawberry milkshake. Can you make one for her real fast?"

"Of course," Mira said as she started preparing the drink. Evangeline turned back to face Lucy, who was staring at an empty milkshake glass in front of her. She tried to access part of her emotional magic that had been weakened for a while in order to try and sort through the girl's emotions that she couldn't see on the surface. Unfortunately, she couldn't dig into that more intimate part of her magic.

Mira placed the strawberry milkshake on the bar right beside Evangeline, and Evangeline picked it up, then stood and walked over to Lucy's table in the corner. She sat down at the table in front of the young blonde, who looked up at her, surprised by Evangeline's sudden appearance at her table. Evangeline slid the strawberry milkshake across the table to Lucy, who slowly moved it closer to her.

"Thank you," Lucy said quietly, carefully eyeing the woman in front of her.

"Anytime," Evangeline told her. She smiled at Lucy.

"I don't think I've officially met you yet," Lucy said. This was true, they hadn't introduced themselves yet, but Evangeline at least knew who Lucy was.

"I'm Evangeline Aspen Hastings," she said as she reached her hand across the table.

"Lucy Heartfilia," Lucy said as she took Evangeline's hand and shook it.

"Other than unfortunate recent events, how have you gotten settled in here at the guild? I hope everyone has been welcoming," Evangeline asked her. Lucy smiled slightly at her before answering.

"It's been amazing, honestly. I'm sorry about the guild getting destroyed. They are after me," Lucy said, bowing her head a little to look down at the table.

"It wasn't you that ordered the guild be destroyed. It was not you that sent iron rods through the building. This is in no way your fault, Lucy. I need you to understand that. When you joined Fairy Tail, you became our family. Your struggles are our struggles. Your pain is our pain. Please, allow yourself to share that with us. It's much easier to cope with our emotions and our demons when we have the support of others who have experienced the same. Everyone in the guild has faced a major trauma at some point in their life. Over time, everyone will let you know theirs. Remember to let us suffer this with you and let us help you be stronger after this is over," Evangeline said as stared at Lucy, directly in the girl's eyes. Evangeline stood from the table and left the basement of the guild. Lucy stared at the empty seat in front of her, thinking about what the woman had just said.

Mira stood at the bar, looking over at Lucy. She had overheard the whole conversation and smiled slightly to herself. Evangeline had readily accepted the girl into the guild, and, unknown to Lucy, into her inner group. She called the younger members she cared about the most her ducklings. Some of her ducklings included Natsu and Gray. It wasn't surprising that Evangeline would accept Lucy into her group as well.

Evangeline had been Mira's rock after Lisanna died. Evangeline, when she had complete control and access to her magic, was able to read Mira's emotions and was able to help her figure out what they were and how to work through them. Evangeline wasn't just able to read emotions, though. She could experience other people's emotions and their memories tied to the emotions. She was also able to give emotions to others. This helped Mira start to find a new normal, but unfortunately, she hadn't been able to work through all her fears with Evangeline before Evangeline lost her magic. Mira still couldn't use her magic, at least, not to a point where she was able to be very useful. She hoped that one day she'd be able to use it again, but there was a large part of her was afraid of what her fears told her would happen should she use her Satan Soul again.

* * *

Evangeline was walking around Magnolia. It was now dark outside, and the street lights didn't help light up the whole road. She didn't mind, though. The darkness comforted her. It had been her friend for many years now.

"Well, look who we have here," a gruff voice called out from behind her.

"Redfox, pleasure seeing you here," Evangeline said. She knew he had been tailing her for a while now. He walked closer to her, but she wasn't afraid. After all, they did know each other, and she knew he wasn't going to hurt her.

"I have a feeling you won't be too happy when you find out what happened," he said. She was reading frustration coming off of him. There was also guilt, but he was trying to bury it.

"I know. I forgive you," she said softly. She could feel his frustration increase.

"Why?" he demanded. "Why, after everything I've done to your guild, why do you forgive me? After everything that's happened on jobs before that?"

"Because you feel guilt," she said. He was going to lash out at her, she knew. But she was capable of protecting herself, and she knew he would. Not. Hurt. Her.

"Guilt? I don't feel guilty," he denied. "I've never felt guilty about anything in my life!" He shot iron rods at her. She didn't move as the went past her.

"You do. You know this is wrong, and you know that you aren't happy where you are. You are missing something."

"Stop doing that," he pleaded with her. His frustration turned to desperation.

"Doing what? Being honest with you? Never. Someone has to tell you the truth when you won't admit it to yourself," she said firmly.

"You should hate me for all I've done," Gajeel said as he dropped down to his knees behind her. She turned around to face him. She walked towards him and stopped in front of him.

"Gajeel, look at me." He looked up at her, tears in his eyes. "I will never hate you. You need to learn to not hate yourself."

Gajeel looked back down at the ground. Evangeline turned away from him and started walking away from him but stopped after 20 feet.

"Remember that if you need me, I'm here. You know where to find me," she said, then walked off into the night.

Gajeel stayed on his knees in the dimly lit street for a while thinking about what Evangeline had said. The woman somehow had a profound impact on him every time their paths crossed. She was able to read him perfectly with her magic, but it was weaker now than when they met the first time. He knew it had something to do with someone else in Fairy Tail. He couldn't remember the name of the person that hurt her. Started with an L? He was sure that he would make whoever hurt her feel pain. However odd his relationship was with Evangeline; he was protective of her. She always helped him regardless of if he was technically on the opposing side from her. She confused him. She made absolutely no sense at all. That was the wonder of her.

* * *

It was almost midnight by the time Evangeline finally reached her apartment. It was small and mostly empty. She didn't bring much with her when she left her old home; just her clothes. Thankfully, she had more than enough money from all the jobs she'd taken before the incident. She had lived in this small apartment for almost a year now. She only had a bed, a table with one chair, and a few kitchen items. She hadn't cooked for herself in a very long time.

She decided that she was going to shower before bed. She walked into her bathroom and stripped off her clothes, then turned on the shower tap. While the water was heating up, she looked at herself in the mirror.

There were dark purple circles under her green eyes. Her cheeks seemed a bit hollow as well. She decided she needed to probably eat more, and at least attempt to sleep tonight. The nightmares would come back, but she needed to sleep. She scanned past her face down onto her neck, then to her chest and shoulders. She had small scars on her chest and arms from different jobs over the years. They didn't bother her much. There was only one scar on her body that she cared about, and it was the one Laxus gave her. Speaking of that scar, the scanned down to her stomach. On the upper left side of her abdomen, there was an uneven, red and purple scar that spread across her skin. It was about three inches across. She gingerly ran her fingers across it and it still felt like lightning had zapped her every time she touched it.

The mirror started to steam up, so Evangeline decided to get in the shower. The water was very hot, almost to the point of scalding her, but that was how she liked it. Her light blue hair almost reached her hips when wet. She usually had her hair up in a bun on top of her head to keep it out of the way. She figured she might as well get it cut now, as there was no reason to keep it long. After all, she only kept it long for her ex-husband, and their divorce had finalized a few months ago.

She quickly finished her show and wrapped a towel around herself. She wiped off the mirror with a hand towel and grabbed a scissors from one of the drawers in her sink vanity. She quickly combed through her hair before chopping it all off right above her shoulders. After she was done, she grabbed her hair from inside the sink and threw it in the trash can. Evangeline looked in the mirror one more time before nodding to herself and leaving the bathroom.

Evangeline walked into her room a short way away from her bathroom and grabbed a nightshirt out of her dresser, which was across the room from her bed. She flicked off the light in her room and crawled into bed. She curled up in her covers and waited for sleep to take her. It didn't take long until she fell into her first dreamless sleep in almost a year.

* * *

The next morning, Makarov declared war on Phantom Lord. Levy, Jet, and Droy were found pinned against a tree with iron in Magnolia Park. Of course, Evangeline already knew this would happen. The Phantom Lord guild war was the last major event she had seen.

Evangeline took her time getting ready to head to the guild. She wouldn't be partaking in the battle of the day. She felt like she had something else she needed to do. For the first time in a long time, she actually made herself breakfast. It wasn't really food, just cereal in water. She didn't even have milk in her fridge due to not ever eating at home. After breakfast, she dressed in a pair of skinny black pants that was distressed at the knee. She also grabbed a white tank top and put on her signature leather spiked vest. She'd worn that vest for almost 10 years. It had been with her after her parents died, during her S-Class trial, and also during her divorce. It was one of the only reliable things in her life.

Eventually, she decided she had to go to the guild. She needed to be with her injured guildmates, as Lucy had most likely already been taken. She couldn't interfere. Whenever she had visions as vivid as when she saw this event, she knew she could take no action that could impact the way the events turn out, or else there will be massive consequences. She knew from experience what could go wrong. After all, her interference in her parents' job caused their death. She saw them get injured and tried to change the future she saw, which led to both her mother and father dying.

Evangeline arrived at the guild and set up near Levy's bed. She liked Levy. Levy was very smart, but she was also very innocent. She wished she had her full magic power back so she could help Levy to recover from the trauma she just experienced. But alas, her ability to change other people's emotions was still gone. At this rate, she was worried she would never get it back. That's not to say she thought she was weak now, but she just liked to have many tools in her arsenal. Very few people could fight back against her emotional manipulation magic.

Evangeline looked over to Jet and Droy in their beds. She didn't feel fear coming from them, but hatred. Hatred was the darkest emotion that one could feel. Evangeline disliked that emotion. She promised herself that she would never allow herself to feel hate for anyone or anything. Erza asked her if she hated Laxus, and truthfully, she didn't. She was afraid of him now. Terrified even. That didn't mean she didn't get frustrated with him over things still, but she was now too afraid to confront him about it. In the past, she was able to challenge him and the things he said or did. He listened to her. But that Laxus was gone. He'd showed her that much.

* * *

The rest of the guild members returned from Phantom Lord with Makarov looking very ill. Evangeline was worried but knew he would be fine. This was one of the only advantages of being able to see the future. Well, when she was once able to.

Everyone seemed a bit beaten down, but no one was ready to give up. Fairy Tail never gave up. Evangeline knew that Phantom Lord would be here again soon, and they had to get ready for battle again. This time though, they had an advantage. They were on their home turf. They also had her. It was time that she broke out a magic she tried to suppress due to its nature but knew that she had to protect her family. That was what she saw herself doing all those years ago. Her last major vision. She had to make sure everything went according to her vision.

Cana was at the bar trying to get into contact with Mystogan. He didn't answer. Evangeline was one of the only people in the guild who knew what he looked like. She knew more than that, and he knew it. He sometimes called her via lacrima at random times when he felt he couldn't take care of an anima alone. Cana sighed after the third time trying, and failing, to connect to Mystogan's lacrima, and then turned her focus to try and call Laxus. Evangeline sat up straight. Her hair was up again today, so she decided she would take it down to show everyone in the guild that she was free.

Laxus actually picked up the lacrima and Cana tried to convince him and his group to return to help. Evangeline sat with her back straight and her now short hair hanging just above her shoulders. Everyone went quiet, watching Evangeline and how she would react in the situation. Laxus saw her and narrowed his eyes, but then said there was no reason for him to get involved, just as he had said the first time when Mira had called him. He then hung up. Cana scowled in frustration, and Evangeline stood from her place at a table in front of the bar and walked over to her.

"Cana, we don't need them," she said. "We'll be fine." Cana sighed, but nodded to the older woman.

"If you say so, then I'll believe you," Cana said. Cana went back to her drink and Evangeline exited the basement of the guild hall. She ended up on the first floor and made her way into the storeroom. No one would bother her up there.

Evangeline sat down and closed her eyes. She reached up to her right ear and removed the crystal earring she wore. After it was gone, she felt her darker magic return. It sucked her inside of herself to confront the power.

"Well, well, Evangeline. And here I thought you would never use my power again, dear," a figure said from the darkness in her mind.

"It's time for me to face reality. Reality is that your power is a part of me, and I get to choose how to use it. I'm sure you know everything that's happened over the past year, so I will spare you the details. I know I used to use your power, and I think I'm ready to again," Evangeline said, her voice serious. The figure appeared in front of her in the dark expanse of her mind.

"Then I will help you, Evangeline. I was always partial to you," it said. The figure was a mirror image of Evangeline, except her hair was black and her eyes were red.

"I will trust in you, Aspen. Save my family, you know what we've seen. You know what to do," Evangeline said, holding her hand out to her mirror. Aspen took her hand.

"I will. Thank you for taking my name as part of yours, by the way," she said as she faded. Evangeline was losing her consciousness and control over her body, and Aspen was in control. Evangeline didn't try and watch what was going on actively. She would know everything after she regained consciousness.

In the physical world, Evangeline's physical appearance changed to be Aspen's look. Aspen was a demon, or at least, that's what she thought. She had existed for such a long time that she forgot what she was. Ever few hundred years she would be sealed into a new human. This time, she happened to be sealed into a host that she actually liked. Her host was something that Aspen had longed to have her whole existence. Evangeline was a pure soul, the opposite of Aspen. Where Evangeline was peace, Aspen was chaos. At least, in the beginning.

When Evangeline was younger, she freely went to Aspen when she needed help. Aspen took over and viciously struck down anyone who stood in her host's way. However, there was a job where Aspen lost control over herself and Evangeline ended up getting lost in her consciousness. Aspen ended up staying in control for an extended period of time while she got back to the guild. Porlyusica was the one who ended up figuring out how to bring Evangeline back, then advised Evangeline and Aspen that it was unwise to combine their power while Evangeline was still growing up, and especially for an extended period of time. She created an earring that would seal Aspen away until Evangeline was ready for her power again.

Aspen had opened her eyes to look around her. She felt the guild hall shaking, like something large was walking very close. She exited the storeroom and went out the back of the destroyed guild hall to find the Phantom Lord guild hall walking on massive legs through the bay. She flared her magic to get the rest of the guild to notice something was coming. Quickly after, members of the guild started pouring out of the guild hall and taking positions to fight.

Unfortunately, the Phantom Lord guild hall was a massive magical machine that was capable of firing a massive cannon called Jupiter. The machine started to write the magical seal for Jupiter as many members of the guild panicked. This magical cannon was very powerful and could easily kill them all. Erza, of course wasn't going to let that happen.

Erza requiped into her adamantine armor and set up in front of the guild. Aspen walked up behind Erza and placed her hands on Erza's armored shoulders.

"Aspen, stay back. This is something I must do," Erza said, trying to get her to back off.

"No, Erza. Let me help you," Aspen said as she pushed magic into Erza's armor, strengthening it even more. Aspen had learned many things over her many centuries of existence, one of them being how to strengthen anyone's attacks or defenses.

"Alright," Erza resigned, allowing Aspen's magic not only to flow through her armor, but also through Erza herself. She knew that blocking Jupiter would be dangerous, and she needed all the help she could get.

Jupiter struck the magical shield of Erza's adamantine armor and pushed both her and Aspen back. Aspen increased the magic flow into Erza's armor to attempt to keep it from breaking, but the strain as too much. Thankfully, just as the armor broke, Jupiter had finished firing. Erza collapsed in front of Aspen.

"Rest, Erza. We will take care of the rest," Aspen said, and Erza nodded as she laid on the ground.

Shades started to fly around the group of Fairy Tail mages behind Erza and Aspen, but no one was afraid. They all knew that they had to fight for their family. Aspen started walking towards the edge of the bay, and apparently Natsu and Happy had the same idea. The only way to win this was to make it aboard the mechanized guild hall. Aspen took a magic skill she had learned from Laxus and transported herself onto the ship with a bolt of lightning. Natsu and Happy arrived not soon after.

"Natsu, we have to take out the Element 4," Aspen told Natsu, and he nodded.

"I guess I'll take their fire mage. It'll be nice for a meal," Natsu said, smirking. Aspen nodded.

"I'm going after Jose," Aspen said. Natsu turned to her and narrowed his eyes.

"You saw what he did to Master," Natsu started. Aspen held up a hand to stop him.

"Natsu, I'm centuries old. I have many more tricks up my sleeve than Makarov. I'd like to have a word with him," Aspen smirked. Natsu nodded to her, knowing she would be fine. After all, Aspen owed her host to keep her body safe.

"Let's go," Natsu said to her before running away to find his target. Aspen started walking to a large staircase to find the Phantom Lord guildmaster.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gray and Elfman made it aboard Phantom Lord's guild hall. The two went to find Natsu to help him defeat Totomaru, the fire mage of the Element 4. They found Natsu getting motion sick just as Totomaru was about to attack him, so Gray quickly froze the enemy mage while Elfman went to attack him. Thankfully, the guild hall stopped moving and Natsu recovered. With Totomaru defeated, the three mages went their separate ways to find the other mages to stop a much deadlier skill, called Abyss Break, from casting.

Back down on the ground, Mira, who was transformed into Lucy, attempted to give herself up to stop the fight. However, Jose saw through it. He sent one of the mechanical arms of the guild hall to grab Mira. Elfman was fighting Sol, who was the earth mage of the Element 4.

Aspen felt Elfman's transformation into a full-body takeover with his beast soul, and she felt him actually keep control. The demon smiled. He might finally find peace with his magic now. She hoped Mira would follow soon.

Aspen also felt Gray engage in battle with the water mage, Juvia. Aspen had seen Juvia a few times through Evangeline and almost pitied the poor girl. She had never seen the sky, the stars, the sun, or the moon. Juvia only ever saw rainclouds.

"Well, well, what do we have here. A little Fairy that strayed too far from her friends," a male voice said from behind Aspen. It was Jose, master of Phantom Lord.

"Just the person I was searching for," Aspen said, her voice icy. Jose was not intimidated.

"Someone seems to be underestimating me, then," Jose said, taunting her.

"And I am under the impression, Jose, that you are underestimating me," Aspen said, a dark aura forming around her.

"Who knew that Fairy Tail held a dark mage," Jose laughed. "The council will get a kick out of this, but it'll be fine. You'll all be dead in no time."

"Now, Jose. It isn't polite to insult a demon by calling her a dark mage," Aspen said, an eerie smile forming on her face. Jose's face twisted in a bit of confusion, but then restored his mocking smirk.

"A demon? An innocent weak thing like you? Oh, this will be fun," Jose said as he summoned shades to attack her. Aspen waves her hand and the shades stopped moving. They looked at her, then turned to attack Jose.

"Never underestimate me, Jose. I control all types of dark creatures, your shades included. Just because they come from your magic doesn't mean they are always loyal to you," Aspen said. Jose panicked.

"What do you want from me?" he asked her, trying to get away from his shades.

"Leave. Stop practicing magic. Be afraid. And never go after my host's family again," Aspen said. She vanished the shades and started walking away from the now terrified guildmaster.

"I'm a Wizard Saint! I can't fall to you," he said, now determined to beat the demon.

"Oh really? You think your measly title will do all the work for you? I never intended on actually fighting you, you know," Aspen said. She turned around and walked towards Jose, stopping right next to him. "You could practice every day for a thousand years and you still wouldn't beat me," she whispered menacingly in his ear. Then, she vanished from his sight.

* * *

Aspen stood on the top of the enemy guild hall and scanned the area around Fairy Tail and also within the Phantom Lord hall as well. She now felt Erza, and the scarlet-haired mage was fighting Aria. She felt Aria's magic wane and knew Erza had won. The war would soon be over. Natsu would face Gajeel, and Makarov would make Jose pay. Aspen sighed to herself and decided that now was the time for her to return control over her body to Evangeline.

Evangeline came to quite peacefully given the situation. She didn't feel like she was ripped into her body again like she did when previously using Aspen's power. She remembered everything that had happened while Aspen was in control of her body. She decided to climb down and face Jose. She had to face him herself, at least once. She wanted to scare him with her own power.

Evangeline quickly made her way back into the room she had last remembered Jose being in. She found him, along with Erza. Erza was captured by Jose's magic, and Evangeline bent down to pick up one of Erza's swords.

"Jose," she said, her voice dripping with anger. The man looked at her and smirked.

"Ah, Lady Demon, how kind of you to join us. Of course, you aren't a demon right now, are you?" Jose said. Evangeline stalked forward.

"Just because she isn't in control of my body doesn't mean that I cannot fight like her," she said as she gripped Erza's sword tighter. Jose readied himself to attack her, but the doors to the room opened again. Makarov had arrived.

"Evangeline, leave this to me, child," he said, his face stone cold. Evangeline stopped moving and nodded.

"Are you ready to face death, old man? You almost died once already, so eager to have it all end?" Jose taunted.

"You attack my home. That I could forgive. After all, a guild hall is only a building and it is replaceable. What I cannot forgive, however, is that you have hurt my children. It is a parent's job to make sure that their children never have to suffer at the hands of others, and you have made them suffer. For that, I shall make you pay," Makarov said menacingly as he prepared to cast Fairy Law.

"Face judgement, Jose. Fairy Law," Makarov said, finally casting the first of the three sacred magics of Fairy Tail. A bright yellow-gold light enveloped everything Evangeline could see. A few moments later, it was gone. Jose looked extremely pale and had no ability to cast magic any longer.

"Evangeline, help Erza back to land," Makarov said as he walked out of the room. Evangeline walked over to Erza, who was now sitting on the floor. Erza made the sword in Evangeline's hand disappear. Evangeline then helped Erza stand and supported her as they made their way out of the room and then out of the guild hall.

* * *

Several days later, construction on the new guild hall was well underway. Almost everyone in the guild was pitching in to help get the new hall built. This one was much grander than the guild hall before. It also had plans to include a much larger infirmary for the more injury prone members. It also included a large area of offices on the second floor for all the S-Class mages. They also increased the size of the main common area and the bar. Much to Levy's delight, the library was also expanded.

Evangeline was walking around a few furniture shops in Magnolia trying to pick out new tables, chairs, and barstools for the new guild hall. She wanted to make sure they would be durable enough to withstand normal wear and tear, but also easy enough to fix after a party. Fairy Tail parties were known to get way out of hand and majority of the tables usually ended up broken.

After finding the tables she liked, she decided to head back to the guild to see how construction was going. Unfortunately, she heard a familiar voice echoing through the construction site. Laxus was there and was insulting everyone. Evangeline didn't walk any further. She was too afraid to see him again. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long until he left with his team.

Evangeline sat at a table near Lucy and Mira a few moments after Laxus left. Lucy had been asking about Laxus, and Mira had started to fill her in on some of his past. Mira noticed that she had sat down and smiled sadly at her.

"I think I'll leave Evangeline to explain the rest," Mira said to Lucy. Evangeline nodded.

"I know him better than anyone else, at least, I thought I did. We were married for a number of years. Mira already told you that Master is his grandfather, yes?" Lucy nodded. "Okay. Laxus's father was expelled from Fairy Tail years ago because of different things that man had done. I never liked him. He was vicious and cruel, nothing at all like Master. He held no love for anyone, not even his wife or his son. However, even though Ivan was so terrible to his son, Laxus was really mad at Master after Ivan was banished. We were 17 at the time. He slowly started to get more power obsessed over time, but I used to be able to reason with him. We got married at 19, but after that he just started getting worse. Last year, we got into an argument again, but this time it turned into something else," Evangeline said.

Mira knew the story, as did Erza, but few other members of the guild actually knew what happened and why they got a divorce, aside from Laxus's general arrogance. Everyone had stopped working to listen in on Evangeline's story.

"Laxus was talking about his plans of what he wanted to do once he took over the guild. He'd talked about it in the past, but he usually stopped when he realized it made me upset. This time he didn't. He kept going. He said that he would pit members of Fairy Tail against each other to decide who got to stay and who would be forced to leave. He said that only the strong would be allowed to stay, and that they would change the reputation of Fairy Tail to be a band of only the strongest mages. I tried to use some of my magic to calm him down, but he knew what it felt like when I used my magic on him. Then, he blew up at me. He hit me with a bolt of lightning while I was using my magic on him and then everything went dark. When I woke up, I was in the guild infirmary with a large bandage around my abdomen, and it hurt. I wasn't able to use magic anymore. It took several weeks in order for me to use some parts of my emotion magic, but to this day I can't impact other people's emotions. I can read some emotions, but not on the level that I used to." Everyone was watching Evangeline with wide eyes. Mira was looked down at the table.

"I filed for a divorce as soon as I was allowed to leave the infirmary, but thankfully he signed the paperwork. I only picked up my clothes from our house and then I left, and I haven't looked back," Evangeline finished.

Everyone stayed silent for a few more minutes before Erza started ushering everyone back to work. Mira stayed at the table with Evangeline for a while longer.

"Mira, I'll be okay. You don't have to stay here all day," Evangeline said softly. Mira shook her head.

"I want to be here. Everyone else will be fine. Have you gotten the scar checked out recently?" Mira asked.

"No, I haven't. I haven't let Porlyusica touch it since I got my bandages off," Evangeline told her. Mira frowned.

"Maybe you should go check with her. She might be able to do something to help you get more magic function back." Evangeline shook her head.

"I don't think it's a physical thing anymore. For a while it was, but now I think it's more mental. I feel like I'm getting hit again whenever I touch it, but I don't think it's real. We're in the same situation, Mira," Evangeline said as she smiled sadly to Mira. Mira nodded to her, and they both lapsed into silence. Evangeline stood from the table and went back to her apartment.

Evangeline avoided the guild for almost a week. She didn't want to run into her ex-husband again. As bad as she felt about not helping build the new guild hall, she was doing her part in finding furnishings. Today, she was finding furniture for the S-Class offices.

Evangeline decided that she was going to make each of the first few offices different depending on whose office it was to be. Mira, Erza, Guildarts, Laxus, and Mystogan would all get custom offices just like her. Master's office would also get a custom desk, but not as expensive as the rest of the offices. Master was prone to breaking desks, and she didn't want to have him break something that wouldn't be easily replaced. She also decided that for now, she would only work on Mira, Erza, and her own office, as they were the ones around the guild most often. Laxus never spent much time at the guild, something Evangeline was now thankful for. Guildarts was away on a 100-year quest, and Mystogan… No one ever knew where he was. Mystogan rarely stopped by the guild; you were much more likely to find him at Porlyusica's home, and even that was a rarity.

Evangeline set to work finding desks and chairs for her group of three S-Class females. For herself, she ordered an ebony desk with silver inlays on the drawers. She would be able to make a false back in at least one of the drawers, which was always nice to have. For her chair, she chose an ebony wood swivel chair with blue cushions. She left it at that until she knew more about the office space.

For Mira, she got a light wooden desk with silver inlays, similar to her own desk, and a swivel chair with white leather cushions. For Erza, she got a plain oak desk and a regular chair with red felt upholstery. She made a down payment for the order and then left the shop. While on her way back home, she got an odd urge to go to the guild. Deciding to listen to it, she made her way to the guild hall.

Her guild mates were making good progress on rebuilding, but it would be a few more weeks until construction was done. She took a seat at a table near where the doors to the new building would be and waited for a second. A few moments later, Lucy walked in. She had heard from Mira, who had visited her to bring her food, that Loke had abruptly left the guild a few days ago and Lucy had gone after him. Lucy was smiling, but Loke was nowhere to be seen.

Lucy spotted Evangeline and went over to her. Other members of the guild flocked over to see what had happened to Loke, and Lucy started explaining the story. Apparently, the Loke they all knew was actually Leo, one of the 12 zodiac spirits. He was once a spirit of another mage, Karen, who belonged to Blue Pegasus when she was alive. She was a terrible master to her spirits, always abusing them whenever she could. Leo protested and kept his gate open forcefully. Eventually, Karen died, and Leo was forbidden from returning to the Spirit World. He was fading away, but Lucy saved him. Lucy managed to make the Celestial Spirit King show himself, and eventually convinced him to let Leo back into the Spirit World. Lucy then showed everyone his key, then summoned him.

Loke (or Leo, both were correct) went around talking to different members of the guild before dismissing himself. He locked eyes with Evangeline before he disappeared, and he smiled. Evangeline smiled to herself. She was happy that he was now happy. She had felt it while he was talking to their guild mates. He had never felt happy in the time she had known him.

The rest of the guild went back to construction and Evangeline sat at the same table she sat at before Lucy came in. Erza came over and sat down next to her at the table, taking a break from directing people where to put things.

"Evangeline?" Erza said, bringing Evangeline back to herself and out of her thoughts.

"Oh, Erza, didn't notice you there," Evangeline said. She wasn't sure what Erza wanted but welcomed any discussion with the scarlet-haired mage she befriended many years before. They hadn't gotten too many chances to talk recently.

"Team Natsu is going out to dinner tonight and I wanted to invite you to come with us," Erza told her. Evangeline was surprised at first, but then smiled to her friend.

"I'd love to. It's been a long time since I've been out to eat with any of you," she replied. Erza nodded.

"We are going to The Happy Pig at 6. We will see you there," Erza told her. Evangeline nodded, making note of the time and place so she would remember later. Erza looked around and noticed Natsu was not putting timbers in the correct place, so Erza left her to go correct the error. Evangeline took that as an opportunity to escape the guild hall.

* * *

Upon arriving back at her apartment, Evangeline noticed that she had mail in her mailbox. This wouldn't have been unusual, except that she had already collected her mail that morning. Whoever had dropped it in her mailbox didn't actually mail it.

She carefully took the letter out of the mailbox and brought it inside. There was no indication on the outside of the letter as to who it was from. She felt Aspen pushing against her barrier, so Evangeline sat down on the floor and closed her eyes, letting Aspen pull her into their shared space in her mind.

"Evangeline, I don't think we should open that in here alone," Aspen said. Evangeline tilted her head, curious as to why.

"Why not?" Evangeline asked her demon. The demon shook her head.

"I just… I have a feeling, just like you sometimes have feelings. Open it tonight when you are with your friends," Aspen insisted. Evangeline nodded, agreeing to what her demon said.

"I will save it until then. Is it a good thing or a bad thing do you think?"

"I have no idea. I can't see inside of it, I just feel something off about it," Aspen said. "Regardless, I'll let you go now. That's all I had to say. Also, I'm glad your spirit friend is happy. Leo hasn't had a good master in centuries."

Evangeline looked at her curiously, wondering why Aspen never disclosed the information. The demon waved her hand in response.

"It wasn't my place to tell," she stated. Evangeline sighed, then exited her mind.

Once she was back to her normal state of consciousness, she started thinking about trying to figure out a way to let Aspen talk to her through her seal and not have to be basically unable to do anything in the physical world while they are connected. She felt Aspen push on the seal in response, letting her host know she agreed.

Evangeline decided that she was going to shower quickly before changing into shorts and a t-shirt to pair with her usual black leather vest. It was only about 3, so she had time to spare.

Someone knocked on her door. Evangeline went over to her front door and looked out her peep hole to see who it was. Much to her surprise, it was Mystogan. Why he was there to see her, she did not know. She opened the door to let him in.

"Mystogan? What are you doing here?" Evangeline asked him once he was inside. He was looking around her apartment and at how empty it was.

"I need your help with something," Mystogan said, still searching for a place to sit down to talk to her, but she didn't even have a couch. "You need to get some more furniture in here."

"I really do, don't I…" Evangeline trailed off. Only three people really came to visit her: Mira, Natsu, and Gray.

"We are going to go get you some. Now," he said as he turned and left her apartment. Evangeline sighed, then followed the mysterious man. He was blunt, but never meant any harm. Whatever he wanted to talk about, he felt like he needed to sit and talk to her about. Which usually meant that it was something big.

Thankfully, there was a furniture store a few minutes' walk away from her apartment, which also happened to be where she had bought the desks and chairs for the S-Class offices earlier that day.

They went right to the couches and Evangeline picked a simple navy couch with wooden legs. The staff said they could being it to her apartment for her after she paid. Mystogan also told her to buy more chairs for her dining table, as no table should ever only have one chair. Thankfully, she was able to find three chairs that matched the one she already had. She paid for everything then staff delivered her new furniture to her apartment and moved it to where she wanted it.

After everyone else had left, Mystogan and Evangeline were sitting on her new couch.

"You said you needed my help?" Evangeline started, wanting to get this conversation going again. He nodded.

"I've been going all over Fiore over the past several years sealing dimensional tears called Anima. It's a magic that comes from a different version of Earthland called Edolas, where I'm from," he said, then paused to let her take in the information. She started nodding.

"Why are they using Anima to get through to our dimension?" Evangeline asked in return.

"Edolas isn't like Earthland. Here, magic is in everything and anyone could use it. In Edolas, magic is not everywhere. Magic use is restricted by the government and magic guilds are banned. Anima is used to suck magic from this dimension into Edolas. Anima can suck up anything, people included. That's one of the reasons I want to stop them. They are occurring more frequently than they used to, so I'm have trouble getting to most of them before they occur. That's why I need you. I can't do this on my own anymore," Mystogan said, sounding somewhat defeated.

"Why didn't you tell anyone before now?" Evangeline asked him. "I'm happy to help, given you teach me how to deal with them, but everyone could have been helping you for a long time. This isn't just your burden to bear."

"It is my burden to bear because it's my father that is summoning the Anima. My father is the king. He plans on finding dragon slayers from our world and using their massive magic capacities to power Edolas for many years. I have to stop it," he said.

"Why did you come to me to help?"

"Because you are the only one I trust with this information. Not even Master knows all of this about me." This surprised Evangeline.

"Why trust me more than Master?"

"You've never once told anyone information that someone told you to hold secret, even though it hurts you. It also has to do with your magic, or, more specifically, Aspen's magic abilities. Aspen already knows the magic to seal the Anima away."

"Would you like to speak directly with her?" He nodded. Evangeline quickly released Aspen from her seal to take over her body.

"Well, brat, it's about time you talked to my host," Aspen said as she gained control. Mystogan sighed.

"I should have known you would do that," Mystogan said.

"Oh, shut up. We already agreed to help you. It's fun messing with humans. You should have also told her that you cannot use magic without your staves, for full clarity. Regardless, she will talk to you about it later. She won't give you as much trouble as me though, that's just her nature."

"I suppose. You know how to find Anima and predict it already, correct?" Aspen nodded. "Can you sense them when you are sealed?" Aspen didn't respond right away.

"I can feel them, but only a few minutes before they occur. My senses are dampened by the seal itself," Aspen said slowly, as if trying to remember what it felt like the last time Evangeline was near one of the Anima portals.

"Okay. That presents a bit of a problem, then," he trailed off. Aspen shook her head.

"I'll teach Evangeline. She's a quick learner. We are going to start working on figuring out communicating across the seal so that I don't have to pull her away from the physical world and leave her defenseless whenever I need to talk to her," Aspen said.

"How fast do you think you can teach her?"

"Give me a week, starting tomorrow." Mystogan nodded.

"I'll be back in a week. If she isn't ready yet, that's fine. In the event an Anima ever opens above Magnolia, she will hopefully be able to seal it."

"Don't leave yet, I have a feeling Evangeline would get mad if I didn't let her say goodbye," Aspen laughed as she relinquished control to her host.

"And right she was," Evangeline muttered. The demon was a bit more free speaking around Mystogan for some reason. "Aspen seems to like you at least."

"So, it seems," he said. "I'm sure you know, but I'll be back next week. If anything happens, you know how to contact me."

"Alright. See you in a week," Evanegline said as Mystogan stood and opened her door, then left.

Evangeline looked at the clock and saw that it was now 5:30, and she could probably start walking to The Happy Pig for dinner with her friends. She walked over to the table where she had placed the mysterious letter earlier. She decided to grab a backpack to carry her wallet and the letter in and placed both items inside. Then she locked up her apartment and left on her way to the restaurant.

* * *

It was almost 6 when she arrived. Erza was already there, as was Gray. Evangeline walked over to both of them and hugged each one. She lingered hugging Gray a bit longer than Erza, simply because she had spent even less time with Gray recently than Erza.

The group was seated at a large table far away from anyone else in the restaurant, and for good reason. They had a reputation for being loud and obnoxious. Natsu and Happy arrived next, and finally Lucy arrived at 6:10. Lucy was almost always late for everything.

Lucy was engaged in a discussion with Erza, and Natsu was talking to Happy, so that left Evangeline with Gray. She didn't mind. Gray looked like he had something to talk to her about.

"I assume you heard about Galuna Island?" Gray asked her. She nodded. She knew that Gray had gone after Natsu, Happy, and Lucy who had taken an S-Class job without an actual S-Class mage with them.

"Some, I don't know the details, though," Evangeline confirmed. Gray sighed.

"I ran into Lyon," he said. Evangeline's eyes widened. Gray had told her all about what had happened before he joined Fairy Tail many years before. Evangeline nodded to him to keep going.

"Lyon was on Galuna and had moved Deliora there. He was attempting to melt the ice it was trapped in," Gray continued. Evangeline reached under the table to grab Gray's hand. He was sitting to her right. He tightened his hand around hers.

"Why was he melting it?"

"He wanted to defeat Deliora himself to try and prove he was stronger than Ur. He had a team with him. They caused a massive purple lens of magic residue to appear over the whole island. It made the villagers on the island forget that they were demons, and the chief had tried to kill his son because of that. Everyone ended up fighting, and I took on Lyon. He beat me several times before I won. Of course, the ice around Deliora was thawing and I thought I had to use Iced Shell to reseal it, but I didn't. Ur had killed the demon with her magic. She's part of the sea now," he finished. Evangeline yearned to have her full magic ability back so she could try and cover the pain she could tell was there from his voice. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"She'd be proud of you, Gray," Evangeline told him, her tone soft. Gray rested his head on top of hers.

"I know."

Lucy was watching the interaction between Evangeline and Gray curiously. She decided to ask Erza and Natsu about it.

"Evangeline was the first person Gray really connected with when he joined Fairy Tail," Erza said. "I'm the same, as was Natsu. It was easy for all of us to attach to her, not just because of her magic, but because of who she is as a person. She is kind to everyone, regardless of if they hurt her. She is a very pure soul."

Natsu jumped in. "Evangeline is kind of like our big sister, I guess. Whenever we needed something, she was always there."

"Gray used to get nightmares when he joined, as he was only 8 and he'd been through a lot, just like all of us. Evangeline convinced her parents to take him in, and then Gray stayed with them for several years, even after her parents died. He and Laxus held her together after that. Mira and I tried to do what we could, but we didn't get along the best back then. Gray understood her like no one else, and back then Laxus actually did love her. Eventually, Gray moved into his own place and Evangeline moved in with Laxus. Their relationship never changed, though. He's always been there for her, just like she's been there for him," Erza finished. Lucy looked back at the two and smiled. She wished that she had someone like that in her life eventually.

"You know, Lucy, Evangeline treats you like she treats us," Happy pitched in. Natsu and Erza nodded in agreement.

"She's there for you just like she's there for the rest of us. If there's anything you ever feel like you need to talk about and can't talk to the rest of us for some reason, go to her. She never judges anymore, and she will keep secrets with her to the grave," Natsu said.

Finally, their food had arrived. Natsu had basically ordered one of everything on the menu to inhale, and that had held up their order for a while. Erza ordered pork loin, Happy ordered fish, Lucy ordered a salad with prok, Gray ordered a pulled pork sandwich, and Evangeline ordered eggs and bacon. This was a pork place, after all.

The friends dug into their food and devoured it quickly, then went back to their discussion. Evangeline remembered the letter and took it out of her backpack to look at. Gray glanced at the writing on the letter and recognized whose handwriting it was. He clenched his jaw.

"Ev, when did you get that?" Gray asked, and everyone else at the table stopped their discussion to look at him and Evangeline.

"Today. It was in my mailbox after I had already collected my mail for the day," she said. She didn't remark on the nickname.

"Let me open it instead," Gray insisted. Evangeline furrowed her brows, confused as to why he wanted to read it first.

"Why?"

"I know that writing. You should, too," Gray said. "Let me open it first. I will give it to you, I promise. I just don't trust who sent it." Evangeline gave in and gave the envelope to him.

Gray ripped it open and read over the contents of the letter. Evangeline felt confusion wash over him. Gray gave the letter to her.

"It's not what I was expecting to come from him," he told her after she took it. She looked it over for herself.

_Ev,_

_I'll keep this short since I shouldn't really be sending you anything. Tomorrow, you'll be receiving something from my lawyers about an amendment to our divorce terms, as it's been a year since that day tomorrow. You left with nothing but your clothes, and you left some of those even. I haven't moved them. I haven't stepped foot in that house since you came and got your stuff._

_The house is yours to do with as you please. You can sell it, destroy it, I don't care. You'll also see that I'm giving you half of the jewel I made in the past year, since I know you haven't been able to go on jobs. The terms will also include a quarter of my earnings for the next ten years._

_Something will happen soon, and I want this to be a way of both apologizing for what happened and what will happen in the near future. _

_Laxus_

Evangeline blinked after she read the note, then looked over to Gray. He was still confused as well. Erza stuck her hand across the table for Evangeline to give her the letter, and Evangeline obliged. The letter then confused Erza, who handed it to Lucy, who was also confused, who then handed it to Natsu, who was also confused.

"What?" Natsu said after he finished reading the letter. Everyone at the table nodded. Happy spoke up.

"What, what? I didn't get to read it yet," he complained. Natsu gave it to him, and the cat was then happy reading it. Happy didn't really understand what it meant but knew something about it was important.

"Basically, Laxus is giving Evangeline a lot of money," Erza said. "And a roundabout apology. And we are confused as to why he is doing it now." Happy "ooo'd" in realization.

"Ev, have the two of you talked to each other at all since then?" Gray asked.

"Not directly. We talked through lawyers about divorce terms but that's it. I have talked to him personally since that day," Evangeline said.

"You were at the guild that day but didn't come in until he left," Erza said, referring to when Laxus had showed up at the construction site of the new guild hall. Evangeline nodded.

"I was afraid to face him, honestly. I don't know if I will ever not be."

"Someday you will have to," Natsu said. "It's not healthy to not face your fears. Confront it head on. Maybe not now, but you have to sometime."

"As much as I hate saying it, I agree," Gray muttered. "I don't trust him, and I don't like him, but you need to be able to at least be around him and be comfortable. You got annoyed the first time Mira called Laxus during the Phantom Lord war and he said he wouldn't show up. Were you ready to face him then?"

Evangeline shook her head.

"You were. You were because you were ready to place the guild before your fears. Next time there's a situation, you will have to face him. Don't think about your fear, think about all of us," Gray concluded. Everyone else at the table nodded as Evangeline sighed.

"I guess. Gray, will you stop by tomorrow when the papers come in the mail? I want another pair of eyes on it and you helped with the first set of papers," Evangeline asked. Gray nodded.

"Of course." A few moments passed and everyone at the table was silent.

"I suppose we've tormented this poor restaurant long enough," Erza said. Gray nodded. They had all paid already, and it was getting dark outside. Natsu, Happy, and Lucy went towards Lucy's house, while Erza went back to Fairy Hills. Gray decided to walk Evangeline home. He lived a few blocks away from her, which was one of the reasons she bought that apartment.

* * *

They got to her apartment about twenty minutes later. Evangeline opened her apartment door and went inside with Gray following.

"When did you get a couch and more chairs?" Gray asked when he walked inside.

"Today," Evangeline said as she set her bag down at her table. Gray was silent for a moment, and then Evangeline continued. "Mystogan came to visit today about something. He made me buy a couch and more chairs."

"Odd, but I'm not mad," Gray said, still a little confused. Mystogan never talked to anyone, but Evangeline was different than everyone else.

"He's interesting, but he's very loyal to the guild and everyone in it," she said as she took a seat on her new couch. Gray sat down on the couch next to her and nodded. That was her way of giving her stamp of approval.

"So," Gray said.

"So," Evangeline replied.

"It's been quite the year," he said. Evangeline nodded.

"I don't understand why he's said something now. Why now? There's no reason for him to do it now," Evangeline said, very confused still.

"I don't know either," Gray said. He stood up and went into Evangeline's kitchen and grabbed a bottle of Vodka that he'd gotten her a few months ago. He also grabbed some shot glasses.

"I like your thinking," Evangeline said, accepting a shot glass from Gray. He poured each of them a shot.

"Here's to figuring out why the fuck life has been so fucked the past year," Evangeline said, clinking her shot glass with Gray's before downing it. She would have tapped it on a coffee table before downing it, but she didn't have one.

"Another?" Gray asked her after they downed their shots. She held out her shot glass to him to fill. This process repeated a few more times, the two now getting recklessly drunk, before they stopped taking shots.

Gray was about to leave when Evangeline stopped him.

"Gray, don't leave," she told him.

"Nightmares?" he asked. She nodded. "Alright."

Evangeline crawled into her bed after taking off her leather jacket, and Gray climbed in right after. They fell asleep next to each other just as they'd done for so many years when they were younger, to scare away each other's nightmares.

**Alright, that's the first chapter! As stated before the chapter, this story is going to be a different format for me. I want to try and branch out with my writing style and writing a different type of story will help me accomplish that. This story will follow decently close to cannon with the addition of Evangeline and Aspen. I will go more into what Aspen is and why Evangeline named her that. Yes, Evangeline named her demon, and that will be talked about in a future chapter. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Past: Evangeline and Gray

**Next chapter! This is a flashback chapter throwing back to when Gray and the rest joined the guild. **

_Year 1_

Evangeline sat in the guild hall eating a grilled cheese sandwich while watching older members of the guild argue about who was going to be nominated for the S-Class trials this year. She sighed. Everyone was to caught up with trying to be the strongest that they forgot they were supposed to be a family. The S-Class promotion trials were something Evangeline disliked because of their nature: They pitted guild mates against one another. That wasn't how Fairy Tail was supposed to function. But, Evangeline didn't make the rules. Maybe when Laxus inherited the guild they could change it together.

"Hey Ev," said blonde greeted her as he sat down at her table.

"Hey Laxus," Evangeline replied, smiling at him.

"Gramps said that he'd let us take a job in Magnolia if you wanted to do that tomorrow with me," Laxus told her. Evangeline's eyes lit up.

"Of course! I've been waiting until he finally let you go on your own jobs," she said. Ivan was never around, so Master was Laxus's main guardian. He tended to be protective of his grandson, especially since Laxus had been pretty sick as a kid. After Laxus got his scar, he seemed to get healthier and stronger. Evangeline knew his father had something to do with it, but she wasn't sure what. Laxus never told her.

"Are you sure your parents will be okay with it? I don't want them to get mad," Laxus asked her. Evangeline shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. They let me go on local jobs myself all the time. They just want to look at the details before we go. Anyway, they would never be mad at you," Evangeline said. Laxus frowned.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes, I don't know why we have to have this conversation every time you want to go with me somewhere," Evangeline sighed. Laxus blushed.

"I just… I don't… I don't want them to get mad at me for spending time with you," he said. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Honestly they would prefer me to spend more time with you than everyone else in the guild right now. The adults drink too much," she said. Laxus laughed.

"I suppose. Want to go pick one off the board then?" Evangeline nodded. The two stood and walked over to the jobs board.

The board was organized with jobs within Magnolia being on the lower left part so that younger members could easily reach them. All the jobs in that corner were deemed to not need magic and have minimal risk of any fights. Those were the only ones that Evangeline were allowed to take, and she was happy Laxus was allowed to take them with her now. The rest of the board contained jobs about finding thieves, fighting bandits, defeating Wyverns, and all sorts of fun, and dangerous, things. Someday Evangeline wanted to take one of those.

"How about this one," Laxus said, pointing to a flyer about helping an old woman move furniture to her new apartment. It was only about a block away from her old apartment, so it wouldn't be too hard. It paid 20,000 jewel, so between the two of them they would have some money to spend for the month.

"I think it'll be good," she replied. Laxus nodded to her, then took it off the job board. He brought it over to his grandfather who stamped the request and waved Evangeline over.

"I'll be waiting to hear how this goes for you two. I'm hoping to let you two go outside of Magnolia for quick jobs soon," he said. Both teens' eyes lit up.

"Really?" They both said in sync. Master nodded.

"Your parents are ready to let you go on your own, Evangeline, but I'd like both of you to go together for my own sanity. You will keep him in line, I'm sure," the old man said, winking at Evangeline.

"Why did you wait until now to let Laxus go on jobs?" Evangeline asked him, curious as to why. Master rubbed his chin. Laxus was also interested in his answer.

"I'm not entirely sure. I was just waiting until I thought you were ready," Master said slowly. Evangeline felt him lying.

"Oh really? Then why do I know you are lying?" Evangeline said, crossing her arms. The old man sighed.

"Ah, that magic of yours is a pain, Evangeline," he said. Both teens stared at him until he answered. "Fine. I've had threats from guilds we have had issues with in the past. You are strong enough now to hold your own in a fight with many of the mages who might go after you."

Evangeline and Laxus's eyes widened at the revelation.

"Do you think they'll go after us tomorrow?" Laxus asked. Given that their client was an old lady, he didn't want her to get hurt.

"I doubt it. They won't come around Magnolia because there are too many Fairy Tail mages here, therefore it's safe for you to start building a client base here. I know I have to let you go and face the world on your own, Laxus. You are strong. I must have faith in you. You also are aware so you can spot anything out of the ordinary, and therefore are one step ahead."

Evangeline sensed worry coming off of Master, and she decided to try and dull that emotion. She slowly brought his level of worry down, but he noticed after a while. The old man looked at her and shook his head.

"I could barely feel that at all, Evangeline. You are getting good," he said, proud that she was improving so much. "Now, you two go be kids, have fun. You have your first job together tomorrow after all!"

Laxus and Evangeline went back to the table that Evangeline left her lunch on. Evangeline prodded to read Laxus's emotions. She felt worry and confusion mostly, with a bit of sadness underneath.

Evangeline reached across the table to take one of Laxus's hands and she held onto it tight. She gently decreased some of his worry and confusion. Laxus smiled weakly at her.

"It'll be okay. We will just have to have each other's backs, which we already do," Evangeline said. Laxus nodded.

"Always."

* * *

The next day, Evangeline and Laxus met at the guild to walk to their client's house. They arrived a few minutes after they set out. Evangeline knocked on her door when they arrived. A short, old woman with grey hair opened the door.

"Ah, you two must be Laxus and Evangeline. Thank you so much for helping me, dearies," she greeted.

"It's our pleasure, Mrs. Bennett. Where would you like us to start?"

It only took three hours to move all the woman's furniture and set it up where she wanted it. She was an amazing client, but she treated them more like her grandchildren than her temporary employees. Mrs. Bennett made sure they always had something to drink and constantly asked if they were hungry. She had apparently made the two cookies before they arrived because she had recognized their names.

Laxus and Evangeline accepted their payment and left the woman's new apartment after promising to stop by for tea some time in the future. They returned to the guild, as they didn't have anywhere else to go for the rest of the day.

When they arrived, they found all the adults crowded in a circle, presumably around a new member. There was at least once new member a week joining right now, so they weren't surprised. However, when Evangeline felt for the new person's emotions, she felt that it was someone very young, and he was very uncomfortable.

"Hey, everyone take five steps back," Evangeline shouted, getting their attention. Everyone obliged, and stepped back quickly, not wanting the wrath of Evangeline's inner demon to be unleashed on them.

Evangeline walked up to the boy who was standing rigid next to the bar. She used her magic to relax all his emotions. He looked at her and tilted his head to the side.

"How'd you do that?" he said quietly.

"Magic," she replied, winking. "Now, those idiots like to crowd people and don't know much about personal space. Why don't you come with me and Laxus to the pier?" Evangeline followed up, holding her hand out to the boy.

He denied her hand and walked past her and out of the guilt. Evangeline pouted, but she wasn't about to give up on him. He carried a lot of pain in his emotions as well, and she needed to get to the bottom of why. She turned back to Laxus and narrowed her eyes at him, trying to convey that they should go after him. Laxus sighed but nodded to her.

They left the guild to try and find the boy. Evangeline had no idea how to go about finding him, but just knew she wanted to find him. Laxus didn't particularly care, but he cared about Evangeline, so he followed and helped however he could.

They ended up passing Mrs. Bennett's apartment that they had moved her into that day, and she was outside.

"Oh, Laxus and Evangeline, hello again," she said.

"Mrs. Bennett! Have you seen a boy with dark hair and a white coat pass by here? We are trying to find him," Evangeline asked. Mrs. Bennett nodded.

"Yes, he came this was a few minutes ago. He was running towards the shopping district, but I don't know if he actually knew that's where he was going," she explained. "Now go, find that boy and bring him back home to your guild." She winked at them both, and they thanked for the information.

Evangeline started running in the direction of the shopping district, and Laxus followed after her. They arrived at the edge of the busy market a few minutes later.

"I'll start on the right you start on the left?" Evangeline said. Laxus nodded, walking to the left side of the market. Evangeline started walking through the market on the right side. She was looking into the different stalls to see if she could see the boy whose name she didn't even know yet. She was getting a decent way into the market when she heard a commotion.

"Hey, kid, stop," a shop owner yelled. Evangeline saw the boy from the guild running with a new black leather jacket and some food. Thankfully, he was running her way and she grabbed him. The shop owner ran after and stopped in front of Evangeline and the boy.

"You need to pay for that, brat," he scolded the boy. The boy grimaced at the man, but Evangeline felt he was very scared.

"It's okay, sir. I can pay for it," Evangeline told the man, trying to calm him down. "How much?"

"The food is 7,000 jewel," the man said. "The jacket is made of real leather and would be 95,000 jewel. I can't have someone stealing that now, can I?" he said impatiently. Evangeline held onto the boy with one arm and grabbed the money she had made that day out of her pocket. She gave the man 10,000 jewel and told him to keep the change for the trouble.

"Give the man the jacket back, kid," Evangeline warned. He didn't let go of it. Evangeline wrestled it out of his hands easily and handed it over to the shop owner. Just then, Laxus rounded the corner and saw Evangeline with the boy being confronted by the shop owner. His eyes narrowed as he walked over.

"Is there anything I can help you with, sir?" Laxus asked harshly. The shop owner turned to look at Laxus, then looked back and forth between Laxus and Evangeline.

"Oh, you two were the one's my mother said helped her move today, aren't you," the man said, his tone much happier now. "Then please, keep the jacket. Thank you for helping my mother when I was unable to. Now, please make sure that boy learns that he has to pay for things." The shop owner left, and Laxus grabbed the boy out of Evangeline's arms and threw him over his shoulder.

"Hey, put me down," the boy protested.

"No can do, kid. We have a reputation to hold up, and you could have tarnished that. Be happy that Evangeline and I were looking for you," Laxus growled. He never got mad except when people threaten Fairy Tail's reputation and name.

"My name is Gray," the boy pouted.

"Gray, why didn't you just buy the food? You know you could have also eaten at the guild, right?" Evangeline asked. Gray muttered something that Evangeline couldn't hear, but she felt embarrassment rolling off of him. "What was that? Speak up."

"I don't have any money," he said, loud enough for her to hear. Evangeline frowned.

"You're all alone aren't you," Evangeline said, her face morphing into a sad smile. Gray stopped struggling against Laxus and went limp. Laxus sighed loudly, now feeling bad for the kid.

"I don't want your pity," Gray said quietly.

"How old are you, Gray?" Evangeline asked, not sure if she would get an answer.

"8," he said. Both Laxus's and Evangeline's eyes went wide.

"Only 8 and all alone? Well we will have to fix that. You're coming home with my and my family," Evangeline said, making up her mind.

"I don't want-" Gray started, but Laxus sent him a small zap. Evangeline walked in front of the two.

"When she makes up her mind about something, don't try and fight her. She's got a demon sealed in her," Laxus said, warning him. "She beat my ass over a cookie once, don't try her." Gray gulped.

"Okay," he said. "Can you put me down now?"

"As long as you don't try and run away again," Laxus said. Gray nodded. The boy didn't want to incur the wrath of Laxus or the half-demon that was walking in front of them.

* * *

The group got to the guild and Evangeline went straight to her parents' usual table, where they were now eating dinner.

"Ah, Evangeline, did you find him?" her mother asked. Evangeline nodded, and motioned for Gray to come over.

"Mom, Dad, I was wondering if Gray could stay with us for a while. He doesn't have anywhere else to go," Evangeline explained. Her parents looked at each other, then examined the boy.

"You stole that jacket and Evangeline paid for it, didn't she," her mother said. Gray's body went rigid. Her mother started laughing.

"Yes, of course he can stay with us. I have a feeling he's got a lot to learn," her father said. "And son, do relax. We don't mind. We all make mistakes, and we have to move past those. You made a mistake today, and all that matters is that you learn from it. No one got hurt, after all." Gray was speechless. He was about to ask a question when her mother beat him to it.

"You were wondering how we knew what happened?" she asked him. He nodded. "Well, Evangeline's father and I are both in tune to thoughts. We can read thoughts that people have, and sometimes even memories when they are very prominent in someone's mind. We can't influence other's thoughts, however. We mostly take reconnaissance jobs," she explained.

"And what can you do," Gray asked, his question targeted to Evangeline.

"I can feel people's emotions, experience other people's emotions, and influence other people's emotions. I have other magic too, just as my mom and dad have. It's good to have offensive and defensive magic just incase you ever get into a fight," Evangeline said. Her parents both nodded to this.

"What magic do you use, Gray?" her father asked. Gray put his hands out in front of him and made a Fairy Tail symbol out of ice.

"Ice Make," he said. Evangeline thought it was beautiful.

"That's wonderful, Gray," Evangeline's mother said. "Now, how about you two sit down and order some dinner." Evangeline took a seat at the table and waved Laxus over. Gray was still hesitant.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Evangeline's father nodded.

"When you joined Fairy Tail this morning, you became family. A family takes care of each other. Now, sit down and pick what you want, we'll call over the waitress." Gray sat down next to Evangeline's father. Laxus sat next to Evangeline.

* * *

Hours later, Laxus had gone home from the guild and Evangeline's family was preparing to leave as well.

"Gray, are you ready? We are about to go home," Evangeline's mother asked. He nodded.

"Alright, lets go family," Evangeline's father said. The group of four set off.

Gray was floored by how big the Hastings family house was. It looked like a mansion to him. He was even more amazed when he went inside. Everything was clean and bright, even though it was now very dark outside. There were two living rooms, a massive kitchen, an indoor pool, and more rooms than he could count.

"Gray, come with me," Evangeline said, walking up the stairs. Gray followed her up the stairs and down the hallway to the east side of the house. Evangeline stopped in front of the farthest room on the north side.

"This is my room. If you need me at all, just come on in. Your room will be the one right across from mine. There's a bathroom attached to the room. We will have to find you some changes of clothes to wear tomorrow," she said. Gray nodded. He opened the door to his room and saw a large room with a queen-sized bed in the middle of it. It had a navy blue comforter on top of it. He closed the door behind him as he ventured further in.

Evangeline went into her room and sat down on her bed. It had light blue blankets and mint sheets. She decided to shower before bed. She showered quickly before changing into a matching set of purple pajamas. She was just about to fall asleep when she felt Gray's emotions go haywire in his room. He was asleep, but he must have been having a nightmare. Evangeline got out of bed and went into his room and woke him up.

"Gray," she said, shaking his shoulder. He woke with a start and had tears in his eyes.

"Gray," she said again, her voice soft. "It's okay. It was just a dream." Gray wrapped his arms around her.

"It wasn't a dream, though," he said, sniffling. Evangeline sat down on his bed and Gray clung to her.

"Gray will you let me see the memory then?" Evangeline asked. She didn't want to see it if he didn't want her to. He nodded to her. She carefully pushed her magic into his mind and found the dream that had just happened, and the memory it linked to.

To say she was shocked was an understatement. The poor boy had lost his whole family to a demon, and then lost his master to the same demon. He felt responsible for their deaths. Evangeline wrapped her arms around the boy and held him tight as he cried on her shoulder. She felt him slowly start to drift off to sleep, but every time she tried to un-attach him from her, he held on tighter. Eventually, she decided to just stay there for the night. Gray loosened his grip on her long enough for her to lay down before he clung to her again. He finally fell asleep. Thankfully, she fell asleep not too long after.

Unbeknownst to both of them, Evangeline's parents came to check on Gray after hearing his basically screaming in his thoughts but heard them quiet down and focus on Evangeline. They opened the door to Gray's room and found the two kids sleeping in his bed. They smiled to each other, then went to bed themselves.

* * *

_Year 2_

"Oi, Ev, get out of bed, it's almost noon," Gray said while banging on her door. "You have a job with Laxus today, don't you?"

Gray then heard Evangeline fall out of bed and run frantically around her room trying to pack everything up for her job. A few minutes later, she opened the door.

"Time?" she asked in a hurry.

"11:50, the train leaves at noon," Gray said. Evangeline screamed in horror, then ran out of the house and off to the train station. Gray sighed. For as put together as Evangeline usually was, she was very forgetful when it for to jobs sometimes.

Gray wandered around the house, not sure what to do. Evangeline would be gone with Laxus for a few days, and Evangeline's parents had been gone for almost three weeks on a very important job for the council. He decided to go to the guild.

Upon his arrival at the guild, he saw Cana sitting alone at a table. He went over to her table and sat down. She looked up at him.

"Oh, Gray, hi," she said, surprised to see him.

"Hey Cana," he replied.

"I suppose Ev left this morning, then? So that leaves you all alone for the rest of the week, eh?" Cana said. Gray sighed.

"More like I woke her up 10 minutes before the train left because I realized I never heard her leave the house. And yes, I'm bored out of my mind for the next week probably," he pouted. Cana giggled.

"Maybe Master will let us do some small jobs around town to pass the time?" Cana suggested. Gray nodded.

"I think that'll be great. I have to save for something, anyway."

* * *

Meanwhile, Evangeline had barely made it to the train before it pulled out of the station. Thankfully, there was a very kind, rich woman who was traveling with her daughter who saw her coming and asked the conductor to hold the train. She thanked the blonde woman for helping her. She then found Laxus's train compartment and went inside.

"It's about time you got here," he said, eyeing her. "You just woke up, didn't you," he deadpanned. Evangeline nodded.

"Gray woke me up, sorry I'm late," she said, taking a seat across from Laxus.

"Aren't you hot? It's warm in here," Laxus asked her, looking at her black leather jacket that Gray had stolen a year beforehand.

"Not really. You know I'm always cold," she replied. Laxus rolled his eyes at her.

"You're only cold all the time because Gray sleeps in your bed every night," he said. Evangeline sighed.

"He stopped having nightmares three weeks ago and has since slept in his own bed every night, thank you very much," she snipped. Laxus laughed.

"I'm just glad he's not having the nightmares anymore," he said more quietly. Evangeline nodded in agreement.

"I was worried they wouldn't ever go away, but I guess he grew out of them."

"Anyway, you remember which stop we need to get off?" Evangeline nodded.

"Clover Town," she said. Laxus nodded.

"Good, I'm going to pass out now. Damn motion sickness is getting to me again," he muttered as he put on his sound pods. Evangeline smiled. She took out her own set of sound pods that Laxus had bought her for her birthday a few weeks ago and put them on. She wouldn't fall asleep; she just enjoyed having something to listen to on the trip.

About two hours later, a knock came from the door to their cabin. Evangeline went to open it and saw the woman from before standing there with her daughter.

"Oh, good, I was hoping I would find you," the woman said. "My name is Layla Heartfilia, and this is my daughter Lucy. What is your name, dear?"

"Evangeline Hastings, Miss. My companion is Laxus Dreyar. I apologize that he is asleep right now, should I wake him?" Evangeline said, not sure about why the woman had shown up.

"Oh, no need dear. I just wanted to check in and make sure you made it aboard fine. My husband owns this rail line and I would hate to tell him that his company left a very kind young woman behind at the station in Magnolia," she remarked. Evangeline's eyes went wide. This woman wasn't just rich. She was a rail baroness, and therefore, one of the most powerful people in Fiore.

"Thank you so much for your help, and I apologize for any inconvenience I caused," Evangeline started to say, but Layla waved her hand.

"It is no inconvenience at all, dear. Please, have safe travels and be careful on your job," she said as she smiled at Evangeline. "We will be off at the next stop, but please, if you ever need to get a ride and have no money, or need to hold a train for any reason, use this card," Layla said, taking out a white card with golden embossing.

"Thank you, Lady Heartfilia. I cannot repay your kindness," Evangeline said, accepting the card, knowing that Layla wouldn't let her not take the card.

"You can, just by making sure you are safe and healthy. Fairy Tail has wonderful mages, but many times they get into trouble," Layla said. "Now, Lucy, can you say goodbye to this young woman?"

The small blonde girl was the spitting image of her mother.

"Goodbye, Miss Hastings," the girl said with a small curtsy. Evangeline would have squealed at her cuteness if she was anyone except an heiress.

"Goodbye, Evangeline Hastings. I hope to see you again someday," Layla said. Evangeline nodded.

"Goodbye, Lady Heartfilia, Miss Heartfilia," she said as the mother and daughter left.

"Who was that?" Laxus asked, his voice low from just waking up.

"The owners of this rail line," Evangeline said, eyes still wide. Laxus's eyes snapped to her.

"You're kidding," he said in awe.

"Nope. And guess who doesn't need tickets to get on a train anymore," she said, showing him the card Lady Heartfilia had given her. Laxus just stared at it.

"Well damn," he said.

"Well damn indeed."

* * *

They arrived in Clover Town a few hours later. Six months prior, Master had decided that Laxus and Evangeline would be able to take any job on the main job board they wanted, so long as they went together. Evangeline's parents agreed, knowing the two would be perfectly fine together.

"So, find and wipe out a band of bandits… I wonder what instruments they play," Evangeline said. Laxus sighed.

"Ev, this is no time for puns, please," Laxus pleaded. He hated puns. With a passion.

"Fineee," she conceded. They continued walking around town to find a place to stay for the night. They had already met their client for more information. The governor had actually increased the reward from 100,000 jewel to 200,00 jewel. Evangeline got a bad feeling about the job.

"Laxus," Evangeline started.

"Yeah, Ev?"

"I have a bad feeling about this job," she said. Laxus frowned. Whenever Evangeline got these feelings, they were always right.

"We'll be careful, then. Never leave each other's side," he said. Evangeline nodded in agreement.

The two arrived at an inn and were able to get a room with two beds. It was the last room left in the inn for the night, so they were glad they arrived in time. Evangeline took the shower first and brought her pajamas in the bathroom with her. Laxus, meanwhile, was looking at a map of the town marked with places that the bandits had attacked to try and figure out a pattern. There was always a pattern.

Evangeline emerged from the bathroom and sat down on Laxus's bed, looking over his should at what he was doing.

"They attack at 5:45 every time, and they alternate sides of the city," Laxus said. Evangeline looked at the map, trying to figure out what else there was in the pattern that they were missing to be able to predict where the bandits would attack next. She noticed something almost instantly.

"They attack across from tea shops," she said. Laxus blinked.

"You got that already, while I've been working on this for over half an hour while you showered," he complained. Evangeline giggled.

"Sometimes you need a second set of eyes to see something that you couldn't," she said. "What does that mean for possible attack points for next time?"

"All the tea shops are branches of the same chain, Ev," Laxus said as he looked closer. There were twelve tea shops in the city, 8 of them being a chain. "There is only one left that hasn't been hit across from yet."

"Then that's where we wait tomorrow. What is the business across from that shop?"

"Haru's Magic Supply," Laxus said. Evangeline sighed.

"That doesn't bode well. Did any of the reports say that the bandits used magic?"

"Not that I've seen, but just because they don't use it usually doesn't mean they won't when they are in a shop full of magic items."

"True," Evangeline trailed off. Laxus looked over at her and saw a worried glint in her eyes. He folded up the map and put it down before lifting his right hand to rub Evangeline's back. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and took a deep breath.

"I really don't like this," she murmured.

"I know," Laxus said softly. "We'll get them tomorrow, maybe the next day, but we will be okay, I promise."

* * *

The next day, Evangeline's worry was only getting worse. She couldn't stop pacing around the room at the inn, and it was only 10am.

"Ev, you gotta stop pacing," Laxus said. "It's really loud."

"Oh, my pacing is too loud, is it? I'll show you loud," she said as she stomped harder. Their room was on the ground floor so she wouldn't be bothering anyone else.

"Fine, point taken. Still, come sit down," Laxus said. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to sit down next to him. Evangeline sighed. Laxus looked at her, concern in evident in his eyes.

"If you are that worried, maybe talk to Aspen?" he suggested. Evangeline nodded, then closed her eyes. She felt herself sucked into her mind where she came face to face with her inner demon.

"Evangeline, I have told you time and time again just to come to me when you have problems," Aspen said. "Why can't you remember this?"

Evangeline sighed.

"I don't know. I didn't want to bother you," Evangeline said. Aspen rolled her eyes.

"It's not like I have anything else to do with my time," Aspen said. Evangeline's shoulders dropped.

"Something is going to happen. I don't know what it is. How fast can you trade places with me if my magic isn't enough?" Evangeline asked.

"If you think of me, I'll know to take over. You just have to let me take over, or else things could get ugly," Aspen said. "What are you planning on doing? Your emotion magic won't be terribly helpful in combat if these people are hardened criminals."

"Gray has been teaching me basic Ice Make. I can freeze them if need be," she said. "I'll try and make them more docile at first, then go in for a freeze, but if that doesn't work, I'll turn it over to you." Aspen nodded.

"That's a plan. Remember that I'm part of you," Aspen said as Evangeline left her mental plane and back to the physical world. Laxus was still sitting next to her when she woke up.

"Well?"

"Aspen will take over if I ask her to," Evangeline said. Laxus nodded.

"Not to diminish your magic, but Aspen is more useful in combat most times, at least for right now while you learn more forms of magic to defend yourself," Laxus said. Evangeline wholeheartedly agreed.

"We aren't leaving each other alone," Evangeline said. Laxus nodded.

"Never," he agreed. Evangeline took another deep breath then relaxed.

"Ready to go get some food?" Laxus asked her. She nodded.

"Let's go."

* * *

The pair ended up at a small diner near the center of the city. Laxus was trying to keep Evangeline's mind off of the impending battle. He wished that he had her magic so he could feel what she was feeling. He hated it when she worried.

"Want to go walk around a bit," he asked her. Evangeline hesitated, then nodded. They had already paid for their meal, so they left the diner. They wandered around going between different small shops looking at souvenirs and other random items. Evangeline stopped and looked at a necklace for a while. She thought Laxus wasn't looking, but he was. After Evangeline moved on from looking at the necklace, Laxus came around and looked at the necklace to figure out what about it was so special. Evangeline wasn't a big jewelry wearer, so it had to be something special. He wasn't let down.

The necklace had a fire opal pendant on a plain silver chain. The fire opal was carved in the shape of a dragon. He looked next at the price tag. It was 100,000 jewel, which was probably why Evangeline walked away. Evangeline didn't like spending money, but she liked it, so Laxus decided he was going to buy it for her after their job was over.

It was nearing 5pm by this time, so Laxus and Evangeline made their way towards the magic shop and walked around inside. They wanted to be inside first to get the upper hand. Evangeline alerted the shop owner that there would likely be an attack in the building soon, and that she and Laxus were mages from Fairy Tail hired by the city to take care of the bandits. The owner thanked her for the information and started removing his expensive merchandise that was easily breakable. Finally, the owner retreated to his hidden room within the shop to stay safe. With that, Evangeline and Laxus waited. They didn't have to wait long before the bandits poured in.

The bandits were dressed all in black with masks covering the bottom part of their faces. Evangeline started pushing her magic out to take hold of the emotions of the bandits. She felt greed, nervousness, and pride. Not a single one felt guilt, which made Evangeline harden. She could be vicious to them with no remorse herself. She started by dampening any emotion that would help them, such as confidence, and flared any emotions of nervousness. This process only took a few seconds to start, but sometimes it took a few minutes for her magic to fully take over a large group of people. She also picked out Laxus and flared his confidence. He nodded at her, then started lightning attacks against the bandits.

Unfortunately, the bandits had a mage with them, and that mage happened to be able to nullify the effects of Evangeline's magic. He was what one might call an anti-invasion mage: His magic made the people he used his power on immune to mind manipulating magic. He was Evangeline's worst nightmare in a fight.

"Ev, let her take over," Laxus said quickly between attacking the bandits. Evangeline nodded, then called for Aspen in her mind. She started sinking back into her mind to allow Aspen out as fast as possible.

"An anti-manipulation mage, huh," Aspen said as she took over Evangeline's body. "It's been many years since I've fought one. I'm taking the mage first."

Aspen appeared behind the enemy mage and kicked him forward into a shelf. This sent the shelf plummeting to the ground.

"Oh ho, guess the little chick has more powers. Boss didn't tell us the blond kids partner had more powers," the mage said.

"Signal for backup?" one the bandits asked while dodging one of Laxus's attacks.

"Yeah, we might need it," the mage said. Aspen narrowed her eyes. This was why Evangeline was worried. Part of this was a setup.

"Laxus, hang back," Aspen commanded. Laxus turned to glare at the demon.

"Why?" he sasked. Aspen shook her head.

"No questions. Just move," Aspen said as she dug through her mind to find a good spell to cast to stop more of the bandits.

"Sudden quicksand," Aspen said, and the floor beneath the bandits turned to quicksand. This was a handy entrapment spell that she had learned about two hundred years before. It was too late, though. A large, dark haired man burst through the door of the magic shop.

"You idiots seriously can't get ahold of two kids? I knew I should have gone after them myself," he said. His voice was low and menacing. He went over to the mage and pulled him out of the quicksand, then crushed his neck before throwing him across the room. Aspen's eyes hardened. She'd have to actually fight.

"Laxus, I need you to stay behind me. This guy isn't someone you can take on right now. Evangeline wouldn't be able to either. Whatever you do, do not leave this place. Remember that what's about to happen is all me, not Evangeline. Remember what happens, and remember what being a mage means," Aspen said quietly, her voice grave. Laxus nodded and moved behind the demon. He wasn't stupid. When Aspen said he couldn't handle something, he listened to her. He also couldn't believe that he'd just watched someone die for the first time he could remember.

The enemy killed the rest of the bandits that were supposed to be his allies. Aspen was happy she had taken over already before this man's arrival, or else Evangeline might have been paralyzed in fear of him. Aspen let her magic power seep out.

"I had no idea Fairy Tail had a half-demon," the man said.

"They don't. I may be part of a Fairy Tail mage, but I'm not bound by their rules, at least not in this case," Aspen said. "It's been many years since I've gotten to actually fight." Aspen then smiled sadistically.

"Then let us dance, demon," the man said, charging towards her. He sent a punch to her face, but Aspen caught it with one hand. The man's eyes widened. Aspen forced magic into her hand and used the power to crush the man's fist. He cried out.

"Bitch," he spit after. He broke out of her grip and retreated. "I guess I'll have to use magic, then."

"Naïve of you to think that you would be able to fight a demon hand to hand. I have many more lifetimes of experience than you," Aspen said, stalking forward.

"Dark Seals: Ribbons of Darkness," the man said, black magic vines erupting from the ground to grab hold of Aspen. Aspen summoned a black blade to her hand and slashed through them. The man gritted his teeth.

"Really? Dark magic against a demon? Are you that stupid," Aspen chuckled.

"Don't mock me, demon," the man said. Aspen laughed again.

"You have no idea what dark magic is capable of. I'll show you, though. I'll strike fear into your heart before I kill you. You do not go after the people my host considers dear to her. Obsidian Seal," Aspen said, casting the spell. Black rock formed a shell around the man with only his eyes out of the rock. He wasn't able to cast any spells to defend himself. Aspen walked towards the man.

"You'll never hurt anyone again," she said as she unsummoned her sword and stopped in front of the man. She made the rock retreat from his mouth. "Any last words?"

"Like you'll be able to kill me," he laughed. Aspen sighed.

"I gave you a chance," she said. "I hope you find hell a nice place." She stopped for a moment, trying to figure out the best way for him to die. She decided to coat her right hand in lightning before driving it through the man's skull. Blood splattered all over her. The obsidian shell surrounding the corpse shattered, spraying shards towards her. Evangeline would be upset about the massive tears in her leather jacket, but she'd survive.

Aspen relinquished control to Evangeline, who sunk to the ground. Laxus came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ev?" he asked, unsure how she was feeling. A lot had happened, and even though Evangeline wasn't directly the one who killed the mages, her body was. Evangeline didn't respond.

The shop owner peeked out from his secret room and saw Evangeline covered in blood, both her own and the dead mage's.

"Oh dear," he muttered. Laxus looked back in the direction of the shop owner. The man frowned, then slowly made his was through his destroyed shop to the teens. "Upstairs there's a full bathroom. I think washing the blood off will be helpful. My late wife's clothes should fit her."

Laxus picked Evangeline up and carried her up the stairs. She was shaking in his arms. There was a chair in the bathroom that he sat her down in. He helped her out of her jacket and set it to the side. He grabbed a washcloth and started wiping the blood off her face.

"I'm sorry," Evangeline said softly. Laxus stopped.

"Sorry for what?" he asked.

"Aspen.." she trailed off. Laxus shook his head.

"She did exactly what she needed to do to keep us both safe. That man was probably an S-Class mage. We couldn't have taken him, especially since he killed his own allies without remorse. It was kill or be killed," he said. He was surprised and a bit traumatized, again, as it was the first time seeing someone die.

"I didn't want her to," Evangeline said, her voice cracking.

"She had to keep us safe, Ev. The bandits were a setup, you know that. They attacked for the purpose of us taking the job, as that was exactly the job we were looking for. Remember what it means to be a mage, that's what she told me. Being a mage means that sometimes we need to do whatever it takes to accomplish the job, but also keep our comrades safe, even if it means we have to take the lives of others," Laxus said. Evangeline's eyes widened, and she sat up straighter. For some reason, this snapped her out of her mindset.

"You ready for me to leave the room?" he asked. Evangeline nodded. Laxus left her to finish cleaning herself up. She stepped in the shower to wash the blood out of her hair and off of other places on her body. Her arms stung in the water due to the cuts made by the exploding obsidian. Most of them were superficial, but there were two that probably needed stitches, or at least to be looked at. She changed into the clean clothes the shop owner had given Laxus to take to the bathroom for her.

Evangeline emerged from the bathroom with her blood-drenched clothes in her arms. Laxus was waiting for her just outside the door.

"The Council is here," he told her. "The last mage was a wanted S-Class criminal who just left Oracion Seis. He had a bounty of 5,000,000 jewel on his head." Evangeline's eyes bugged out of her head.

"5 million? What?" she sputtered. Laxus just nodded, amazed as well.

"What do we do?" Evangeline asked. Laxus tilted his head towards the stairs.

"You gotta go talk to the Council reps. I'm sorry," he said. Evangeline sighed. At least they knew she had Aspen sealed inside of her.

"I'll go take care of that then," she said as she was about to walk down the stairs, but Laxus spoke again.

"Probably want to leave those up here for now," Laxus said, referring to her clothes. Evangeline nodded and dropped them where she was, then went down the stairs.

Down there, she found multiple members of the knights collecting shards of the obsidian seal Aspen had used, as well as collecting the bodies of the bandits. She found the representative talking to the shop owner. It happened to be an actual member of the council, Yajima.

"Oh, Evangeline, why did I know you would be involved," the old man sighed. Evangeline shrugged. "Regardless, I'll have to ask you a series of questions about the actual series of events, if that's alright? I'd also recommend you go talk to someone. The first time someone dies in front of you can be very traumatic, regardless of the circumstances." Evangeline nodded in agreeance to the question and his statement about help after.

"Alright. Firstly, what was the original job?"

"We took a job posted by Clover Town to take care of some bandits. Once we arrived, we learned the reward was increased from 100,000 jewel to 200,000 jewel," Evangeline said. Yajima nodded.

"At that point, was there any indication that there were mages in the group?"

"No, but I did have a really bad feeling about this job as soon as we arrived," Evangeline said. Yajima nodded again.

"This is when you contacted the demon, yes?" he asked.

"I did the next day. Last night, we went over the map to find the pattern and the next attack location, but I realize now it was too easy. They made it easy to spot the pattern. It was even worse because the attack was going to happen here, in a magic shop," Evangeline said.

"There's something else, too, isn't there?" Yajima asked. Evangeline nodded.

"About a year ago, Master said that someone was after Laxus. This is one of the first jobs we've taken decently far outside of Magnolia, but we always knew eventually someone would go after him," Evangeline said. Yajima sighed.

"Why didn't Makarov just tell the council," he muttered.

"He probably didn't want you involved. Wherever the council is, so is more trouble," Evangeline said. Yajima gave her a look.

"I'd argue that that is true of Fairy Tail and not the council," he said. "Regardless, what happened before the fugitive showed up?"

"The bandits arrived right at 5:45, just as we expected. I was controlling their emotions for a few moments, but then we found out that they had an anti-manipulation mage. There are very few out there, so I assume he was placed with the group specifically to deal with me. Of course, they didn't know about Aspen." Yajima wrote down more notes.

"Continue," he said after he had finished writing.

"Aspen kicked the mage away, then one of the bandits said something about backup. Aspen realized that it was a setup to get Laxus, so she went into defensive mode. She trapped the bandits, including the mage, in quicksand, but the other mage arrived. He killed the original group of bandits himself, that wasn't Aspen," she said, stopping again to let Yajima take notes. When he finished, she continued.

"Then, he decided to be mouthy and attack Aspen with dark magic. Aspen summoned one of her dark swords and cut through his binding spell, then sealed him in the obsidian. Then, she killed him."

Yajima finished his notes, then looked at Evangeline's face. He read the haunted expression in her eyes.

"Evangeline, promise me you will go talk to someone after this? All mages go through this, and I'm sure you and Laxus will be much better off if you just go see someone. Your parents would be wonderful for this as well," Yajima said. Evangeline nodded. "Everything else lines up with the witness reports, not that I expected anything else. Your payment will arrive at your parents' house within two weeks. Now, take care and try not to get into anymore trouble for a while."

Evangeline was dismissed and allowed to go back upstairs. Laxus was still waiting up there for her.

"Can we go now?" Laxus asked. Evangeline nodded.

"I feel bad that the shop had a lot of damage," Evangeline sighed. Laxus shrugged.

"He was talking to me about it earlier. We saved him a lot of money, really. He lost five shelves of merchandise at worst instead of everything and possibly his life," Laxus explained. Evangeline nodded.

"I suppose this is why the older guild members always talk about insurance," Evangeline said.

"Let's not talk about insurance, please. We get enough of that on a daily basis already," Laxus sighed. Evangeline let out a small giggle, and Laxus smiled. He was glad he got her to laugh.

* * *

Evangeline and Laxus arrived back at the inn they stayed in the night before. Evangeline dumped her dirty clothes into a plastic bag (the clothes were now dry, at least) and put that into her travel bag. She curled up in her bed. Laxus was sitting on his bed on the other side of the room and took the communications lacrima out of his bag and called the one at the guild hall.

"Oh, Laxus, how'd the job go," Master answered. Laxus's face explained it all. Master sighed. "What happened?"

"Fugative S-Class. Aspen took care of him" Laxus said in short. Master's eyes bugged out.

"S-Class? An S-Class mage?" he sputtered. Members of the guild started to crowd around Master, including Gray.

"Is Ev okay?" Gray asked quickly, having stolen the lacrima from Master. Laxus nodded.

"She's going to be," Laxus said. Gray narrowed his eyes at Laxus but the lacrima was stolen back by Master.

"When you two get home, no more jobs for a month at least. Are either of you hurt?"

"I'm fine. Ev has some scrapes from Aspen being sadistic, but that's normal. We've wrapped them up, but most of them are small," Laxus said. Gray stole the lacrima back from Master.

"Where is she," Gray shouted at him. Evangeline left her bed and sat next to Laxus.

"I'm here, Gray," she said, a small smile on her face. "I'll be okay, just have a piece of cake ready for me when I get home tomorrow."

"Okay," Gray said, this time giving the lacrima back to Makarov.

"We'll see you back here tomorrow. Then we will figure out what to do from there," Master said, hanging up the lacrima.

Evangeline rested her head on Laxus's shoulder.

"I don't want to sleep alone tonight," she said.

"I don't either."

* * *

Evangeline was the first of the two to wake up. Neither she nor Laxus and nightmares last night, which was good. Nightmares about the previous day's events would have been bad. She didn't want to get out of bed yet because it was warm, and the air was cold. Laxus was sleeping on the other side of the small bed facing away from her, but he suddenly turned over and wrapped his arms around her in his sleep. Laxus was a surprisingly heavy sleeper. Evangeline felt herself drifting off to sleep again.

Evangeline woke up again a while later, Laxus's arms still around her. She looked at the clock in the room and saw that it was 10am. They had to get going, or else they would miss the only train out of Clover Town that day.

"Laxus," Evangeline said, her voice a bit softer than usual.

"Hmm," he mumbled. He opened his eyes and saw her looking at him.

"We gotta go or else we will be stuck here another day," she said. Laxus removed his arms from around her so she could get up. Evangeline went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and change her clothes. After she was done, Laxus went in after her. Within fifteen minutes, they were checking out and on their way to the train station.

Laxus remembered that he was going to go buy Evangeline the necklace she liked, so he made up an excuse that he had left something behind in the room. Evangeline went to the station. Laxus only had ten minutes to get there before the train stopped boarding. The conductor made the last call for passengers, and with Laxus not there, Evangeline pulled out the card that Lady Heartfilia had given her. The conductor actually bowed to her and said he would hold the train until her companion arrived.

Meanwhile, Laxus was looking for the shop that the necklace was in. It had just opened, and there was no one inside yet except one staff member. He went right up to the jewelry counter and asked for the dragon opal necklace and paid for it as quick as he could, thus spending all the money he had made on the job. Thankfully, the staff member boxed and wrapped the necklace quickly. Laxus realized that he was late and ran as fast as he could to get to the train station, eventually resorting to traveling small distances by lightning. He had only practiced it a few times, but he figured now was a perfect time to test it out. He got to the train station ten minutes after the train was supposed to have finished boarding. However, he saw the train still in station and the conductor standing by Evangeline, who crossed her arms when she looked at him. He walked over to her, and the conductor ushered them onto the train. They found an open compartment and sat down.

"And, where were you? You didn't forget anything, don't lie, I could feel it the first time," Evangeline said, eyes narrowed at him. He held out his hand that had a purple gift bag.

"Open it," he told her. She grabbed the bag from him hesitantly.

"What's in it?" she asked. He nodded to it but didn't say anything. Evangeline stuck a hand into the bag and felt a tissue paper wrapped box. She pulled it out of the bag. The paper around the box was a navy-blue color and was held closed by a silver sticker. She carefully peeled up the sticker and removed the tissue paper from the box. The box itself was black cardboard. She looked up at Laxus, who nodded to her again. She lifted the top of the lid off the box and saw the opal dragon necklace she had been looking at the day before. She picked it up out of its box and held it up to eye level. It was beautiful in the sunlight that was pouring through the train window.

"It's the right one, right?" Laxus asked when Evangeline didn't say anything.

"It's perfect."

* * *

They arrived back in Magnolia several hours later. Cana and Gray were waiting at the station for the two to return. When Gray saw Evangeline, he attacked her with a bear hug. Cana waited for Gray to let go of the older girl before she attacked Evangeline with her own bear hug. After the hugging session was finally over, the group of four returned to the guild.

To saw that everyone was happy to see Evangeline and Laxus was an understatement. After the revelation last night, they were very worried about the two. Everyone was checking in on the two, and it was very uncomfortable for both teens. Thankfully, Makarov called them into his office.

"Tell me exactly what happened from when you got there until the end," he said. His voice left no room to argue. They quickly recounted their tale. Master sighed after the two finished explaining everything.

"My, my, this is a mess," he said, rubbing his forehead. "Evangeline, dear, would you let Aspen through? I'd like her opinion about what to do with the two of you." Evangeline quickly relinquished control over to Aspen.

"They need training," was the first this out of Aspen's mouth. Master stared at her, waiting for her to continue. Laxus interrupted, though.

"More training?" he asked. Aspen nodded.

"The two of you have great potential by yourselves, but you need training. Not the half-assed training you've done before this, but actual hard-core training. Training that will make you feel like you physically cannot go any further. You two will encounter many enemies, and you now have huge targets on your backs because of what I did to that fugitive. I don't regret doing it though. You two have to grow up and face your destiny," Aspen said. Master sighed.

"Who do you want to train them?" he asked.

"Honestly, I wish I could be a separate entity for a while, but that can't happen. Honestly, send them with Gildarts," Aspen said. Master looked like he was going to pass out, and Laxus wasn't fairing much better.

"Gildarts? I'm sorry but they'll both end up dead," Master said. "Isn't there anyone else?"

"No. Gildarts is perfect. He's so unaware of his strength that he will push them both to the breaking point but will make sure they don't die. They need someone like him that won't treat them like children. They can handle it." Aspen was firm in her decision. Master then told them both to stay where they were so he could fetch Gildarts, who was actually at the guild for once. A few moments later, he was in the room.

"So, why am I up here?" he asked. Aspen spoke up.

"Basically, if I hadn't been sealed in Evangeline, both these two would have been dead last night. Someone sent an S-Class mage after Laxus, but also had someone to fight against Evangeline. They are in danger if they don't get proper training. You are the only person who won't treat them like children," she said. Gildarts sighed.

"And I was just going to go on a vacation," he complained.

"Better to miss a vacation than to have two funerals," Aspen said gravely. Gildarts glanced at her.

"You're serious about this?" he asked. He knew the demon was not stupid, in fact, she was probably the smarted person in Fairy Tail.

"100%. They need to start soon. I don't think the danger will stop. Maybe it will, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I'm good at protecting Evangeline, but protecting both of them is difficult, even for me. Evangeline's body isn't as strong as I'd like it to be, either. We can't keep them at the guild. They need to learn."

"Then I'll do it," Gildarts said, his voice dropping into his serious tone. "Pack up, we leave in three hours."

Laxus sighed, as he wanted to take a few days to breathe, but that wasn't a luxury he was going to be allowed. Aspen let Evangeline take control once more. Evangeline sighed once she returned.

"I won't get to see my parents get back, will I?" she asked. Gildarts shook his head.

"No. We can't call them either or it might give them up. They will find out where we've gone after they get back. Trust in them, Evangeline," he said. She nodded. She looked over to Laxus.

"I guess we should get ready then."

* * *

Gray was furious. This was for several reasons. Reason one being that Evangeline would be gone for months. Reason two was that Evangeline would be gone for months with Laxus. Reason three was that Evangeline was in danger. Reason four was that there was nothing he could do about any of it.

"Are you sure you have to go?" he asked Evangeline for the twenty-seventh time. She sighed.

"Yes, Gray. I had an S-Class mage against me, and if I hadn't had Aspen, I would be dead, and Laxus would be dead. We have to go get stronger, for our own safety, and also for everyone else's. We can't go on jobs with other people when we know that we are putting them at risk, and we can't protect them. We need to get stronger for everyone," she said. Gray sighed, finally accepting that she had to leave him. Again. Except this time for an extended period of time.

"Can I at least go with to the train station?" he asked, eyes pleading with her. Evangeline gave in.

"Fine, but we have to go now," she said. She grabbed her bags and started walking to the train station with Gray.

Once they arrived, they found Laxus and Gildarts already there with tickets. They were heading just one city over to Sunset Town. Gray hugged Evangeline goodbye and the group boarded the train.

The train ride itself was awkwardly quiet. Thankfully, it was over fairly quickly. When they got off the train, Gildarts led them out of the city into the forest. There was a large clearing about four miles outside the city for them to start working in.

"Put your stuff down by the tree line," Gildarts said. The teens did so, then came back. Suddenly, Gildarts started attacking them.

"Hey, wha-?" Laxus was cut off.

"No talking; just dodge. Your best chance against a stronger opponent is to be able to dodge until help arrives," Gildarts said. "Also, never take a hit unless you absolutely have to. Dodge first, defend second, attack third." Gildarts continued going after the teens for several more minutes until they were laying on the ground, completely exhausted.

"I have a lot of work to do," Gildarts sighed.

* * *

The dodge training went on for several more weeks until Laxus and Evangeline were able to dodge for an hour without really breaking a sweat. They could withstand attacks for up to three hours, which Gildarts decided was sufficient. He was getting too tired to attack by that point, and the kids had enough energy to attack still after that amount of time.

"It's time to get into offense, kiddos," Gildarts said after their final (for now) dodge test. Evangeline flopped down onto her back and laughed. Laxus rolled his eyes at her antics but was just as excited as she was to get more of their training underway. They'd been gone for over two months now.

"Now, I don't have your magic. I can't tell you exactly what to do. I can help you try and refine different skills, however. Magic is a feeling. Do what you think is right, then go from there," Gildarts said. He turned to Evangeline.

"Yours is a bit different because I can feel the effects of your main magic on me. I want you to get so good at it that no one will be able to tell you are affecting their emotions. I'd like to see if we could push you into thoughts like your parents. It's possible," Gildarts told her. Evangeline nodded. Her parents had meant for many years to train her in their magic but never had time to.

"Where do we start?" Laxus asked, unsure.

"Start with what you know already. Don't worry about hitting dear old me, I'll be fine," Gildarts said. "Evangeline, you can stay to the side for now. I'd like to gauge where each of you are at individually."

Evangeline sat a way away, so she didn't get hit by any stray lightning. She had been before, and it wasn't pleasant.

Laxus basically knew how to throw lightning bolts. Given, they hurt, but they weren't dangerous. Eventually, Gildarts raised his hand up for Laxus to stop. Then, he motioned for Evangeline to come over. Laxus went off to the side while Evangeline listened to Gildarts explain what he wanted her to do.

"Basically, I want you to have a conversation with me, and try in influence my emotions to get it to go favorably for you," he said. Evangeline nodded, and started feeling out his emotions.

"What will we be talking about," Evangeline asked, starting to damper confidence. Confidence was always bad in an enemy.

"How about dinner. For the next month, I think we should only eat fish with nothing else," he said. Evangeline felt mischievousness rise up in him as he finished his statement. She started working to lower that slowly as she responded.

"While fish is generally healthy, the river near here is heavily polluted," Evangeline said, making him feel doubt.

"I never said we had to get it out of this river," he followed up. Evangeline chose to raise his level of boredom.

"It's a long walk to get into town, and then we would have to try and find fish from the coast that were transported in," Evangeline said, adding more power into his feelings of doubt. "We also don't have enough money to buy fish every day."

Gildarts eyebrows furrowed. She had a point. Evangeline spoke again.

"I'd suggest that if we need to have fresh meat, we just kill a deer. It is open season right now," Evangeline said. Gildarts found himself nodding, then Evangeline let go of his emotions. Then Gildarts sighed.

"Damn you are good at that already," Gildarts said. Evangeline shook her head.

"You were hungry, and, therefore, much easier to convince," she said. "I've also found that people can get used to how my magic feels after a while. Laxus can vouch for that."

Gildarts paused for a few moments before speaking. "I think your magic is much better as a support than an offensive, but you already knew that. I'd like you to learn an offensive magic, so you don't need to rely on Aspen."

"I know a bit of Ice Make from Gray, but it took a long time to learn it. It doesn't come naturally to me," Evangeline said. Gildarts nodded, then waved Laxus over.

"Okay, so both of you have a lot of work to do. Laxus, you need to diversify. You can't just hurl lightning at enemies and expect things to happen. Evangeline, you need to learn a whole new magic. Perhaps consult Aspen tonight if she has any ideas. She would be able to teach you fairly quickly, I believe. Both of you need to learn hand to hand combat and basic swordplay, just in the event that you have and enemy with a sword," Gildarts said, outlining the next few weeks to months of their training.

* * *

Evangeline couldn't get thought manipulation down. It never felt natural, no matter how hard she tried. This was after several weeks of practice. Evangeline was making a lot of progress on her close combat and sword skills, but her magic wasn't going anywhere. That's when Laxus decided to teach her some lightning magic. That came as naturally to her as her emotional magic.

"I don't get it, though. Why is lightning, a whole different type of magic, easier than thoughts?" Evangeline said, frustrated. Whenever she tried to plant thoughts in Gildarts's mind or Laxus's mind, they always knew they were foreign in origin, thus defeating the point of the magic.

"Maybe you just aren't ready for it yet," Laxus said. Evangeline groaned.

"Not ready, my ass. I've been ready to learn more magic since I was eight. I finally have a chance to push to the next part of mind manipulation, and I can't," she complained as she flopped onto the grass in part of the clearing.

"Then maybe it's something with your mind," Laxus said. Evangeline propped herself up on her elbows to look at him.

"Are you suggesting that I am incapable of using thought manipulation because I'm messed up in the head? Well thanks for that," she growled. She leapt onto her feet and charged towards Laxus, who decided that dealing with an angry Evangeline was not something he wanted to do that that moment. He moved all the way to the other side of the clearing, then into the trees. He tried to cloak his fear of her.

"Someone pissed her off," Gildarts said loudly from behind him. Laxus sighed.

"You realize that now she will be after both of us, right?" Laxus said. Gildarts felt the color drain from his face.

"Run?" he said, his voice unusually high.

"Run from what?" Evangeline said in a sickly sweet voice. Both males plastered a fake smile on their faces and turned to her.

"Just going on a run for training," Laxus said. Gildarts nodded vigorously.

"Can never run too much," he said. Evangeline smiled at them.

"Then run from me. I'll give you five seconds before I beat your asses," she said. The males didn't need another warning before they took off as fast as they could, pumping magic into their legs to send them as far as possible away from the crazy female.

This, of course, was useless. Evangeline had learned Laxus's lightning body, which allowed her to move quickly to catch them. She then blasted them both with lightning.

Gildarts, who was unable to move after getting blasted with Evangeline's powerful attack, gritted out, "Never, ever tell a woman there is something wrong with her mind. Or her emotions. Or anything. Don't say there is anything wrong with her. Or else you will die."

"Noted," Laxus groaned out.

Evangeline was back at the clearing working on her sword forms. She knew that what Laxus had said probably had something to do with why she was having trouble. She just didn't want to accept it. She thought she would be able to pick up her parents' magic easily, but instead she felt like a family disappointment.

A while later, Gildarts and Laxus returned to the clearing. Evangeline was still going through sword forms.

"Evangeline, I have an idea," Gildarts said. Evangeline stopped her forms and looked over at the man with an eyebrow raised.

"And?"

* * *

Gildarts suggested that Evangeline try and learn requip magic for her swords. It would make it easier to travel since she could also put all her things in her storage dimension. Aspen was quick to agree and taught Evangeline quite quickly. Aspen also wanted to teach Evangeline some dark magic, which Evangeline was hesitant to, but eventually agreed.

Evangeline learned Aspen's obsidian magic. It was basically dark earth magic. Earth and lightning magic in one person were a lot, but Evangeline was a natural to both. She also continued learning from Laxus.

By this point, the group had been gone for six months. Gildarts decided it was time for their final test.

"Laxus, Evangeline. If you beat me in a full out fight, we can go home," he said. He wanted to sleep in a real bed again. And get away from the teenagers. Mostly to get away from the teenagers. Both teens got serious at his statement. The older man smirked. They had learned well.

"Then let's go," Evangeline said, readying her emotion magic. Gildarts still hadn't found his own counter to her magic.

The battle was brutal on both sides. Evangeline's jacket arms were shredded. She had barely repaired the damage from Aspen's obsidian magic all those months ago in Clover Town. There was no saving it now. She had blood dripping down her forehead, as well as from her arms, legs, and stomach. Laxus wasn't faring much better. Gildarts was tired, but he could keep fighting. He was almost disappointed that the kids weren't able to defeat him but remembered that he was much more powerful then them. He was about to call the fight off when the teens stood up again. He watched them walk over to each other and stand back to back, grabbing each other's hands. They were going to attempt a unison raid.

"Unison Raid: Raiko: Red Lightning," they chanted together. Gildarts was floored, literally. He saw the blood red lightning coming for him but couldn't do anything about it. The next thing he knew, he was laying on the ground. Laxus and Evangeline slumped down onto the ground, still back to back.

"Where the hell did you two learn how to do a unison raid, and that spell?" Gildarts eventually said, still breathing heavy.

"We didn't know it would work," Evangeline said. Laxus nodded.

"I kind of made it, but I based it off of my great-grandfather's lightning," he said. "I couldn't use it on my own, so I asked Ev to help me."

Gildarts started laughing. "You two are idiots. You could have killed yourselves." The teens joined in the laughter.

"Yep, but we are Fairy Tail mages. We get away with doing stupid things all the time," Evangeline said. She and Laxus stood. Gildarts eventually got up as well.

"Back to Fairy Tail we go," Gildarts said as he limped towards the edge of the now destroyed clearing.

Master was very mad at all three of them upon their return. First, he was mad that they never made any contact. Second, he was mad that they were all injured. Third, he was mad that everyone was injured because Gildarts made the teens fight him, and that the teens did a unison raid with an untested magic spell. He almost squashed them with his giant magic. Almost. He snapped out of his anger when he realized that the teens weren't afraid of his wrath. He took a closer look at them.

Evangeline and Laxus looked older. They had more defined features and muscles, and otherwise just looked more mature. They were cool and collected. They were also standing very close to each other, to which Makarov was very happy. He wanted to live to see his grandson get married, and he thought that was highly likely.

Makarov looked over at Gildarts and saw the man looking at Evangeline and Laxus with pride in his eyes. Makarov smiled. Everything went according to plan, if even better. All three had grown from the experience.

**Okay! Chapter 2! I will be doing a present chapter, then a flashback chapter, and alternating between those for a while until I get caught up to the point where the story started. There's a lot of background to each of the character's stories. Things in this chapter will be clarified in the next chapter, don't worry. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Present: I love you

**Next chapter! Back to the present.**

Evangeline woke up next to Gray, who was still asleep. She checked her clock, and it was just after 10am. Gray was usually at the guild by this time, so Evangeline decided to wake him by shoving him off her bed.

"Ev, whyyy?" Gray groaned, reaching up and pulling a pillow off her bed to cover his face.

"It's past 10," she said. Gray groaned again.

"I don't wanna go anywhere," he said. Evangeline laughed. Gray was hungover, and she found it hilarious.

"It's not my fault you can't hold your alcohol, Gray. Now get off the floor," Evangeline said as she got off her bed and kicked Gray softly after. He sighed loudly, then sat up.

"Do I have to go?"

"Yes. We can wait until after we go over the documents though. They should be here now," Evangeline said before she left her bedroom. She then checked her mailbox, and sure enough, there was a large envelope from Laxus's lawyer. She grabbed it and went back inside.

Gray had pulled himself together and was sitting at her table. He had also gotten himself a glass of water from the sink.

"You should grab your previous copy," he told her. Evangeline nodded and went to grab the previous version of the divorce agreement. She brought it back to the table and then opened the new version.

"Line by line like usual?" she asked. Gray nodded. Surprisingly, Gray was good at noticing small details which made him great for legal issues.

They went line by line between both documents and found no other differences in any part of the terms except an addition to what Evangeline had ownership of. There it listed the exact same thing Laxus had said in his letter: the house, half his income from the past year, and a quarter of his future earnings for the next ten years. After finishing looking over the documents, Gray sighed.

"There's no loopholes, no issues. I just don't know why," he said. Evangeline frowned.

"I can sign, then?" she asked. Gray nodded.

"We can drop it off at the lawyer's office directly since it's on the way to the guild. God, everyone's going to kill us. It's almost 4," he groaned. "I hate legal shit." Evangeline laughed.

"Me too. We still need to figure out why Laxus is doing this," she said. Gray nodded.

"Maybe one of the others will have come up with something by now as to why. There has to be some sort of motive," he insisted. Evangeline didn't want to believe him, but she couldn't help it. After what Laxus had done, there was no way she could trust anything he did.

"We should head out, then. I'm hungry," Evangeline said. The two left her apartment and dropped off Evangeline's documents at the office to get verified and all other things that they needed to do. Evangeline never paid too much attention to the process. Gray and her lawyer took care of most of it for her. Thankfully, Laxus hadn't been difficult and they hadn't needed to go to divorce court. She and Gray had been suspicious of that as well but weren't going to complain.

* * *

The two arrived at the guild a short while later. Erza waved Evangeline and Gray over to a table where Mira and the Master also sat. Erza quickly explained that she had filled the two of them in on the letter last night.

"So, there were no loopholes? Just a seemingly innocent and kind gesture?" Master said, his brows furrowed. He loved his grandson, but he had made many mistakes. Hurting Evangeline his largest to date.

"Not that I could find," Gray said. "I said it was good enough for Ev to sign, so she did."

"Will be going to the house yet?" Erza asked. Evangeline shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't know if I'm ready to go back there yet. I'll go back soon. I can't just leave it sit there, and I know I left a lot there," she responded.

"Do you want to bring me with when you go?" Mira asked her. Evangeline shrugged.

"I'll let you know. I think it might be something I need to do on my own," she said. Mira smiled sadly at her and nodded. Nastu sighed from across the table.

"At least let me sniff around the place first. I don't trust him," the pink-haired slayer said. Evangeline smiled at him.

"We'll see, Natsu. I probably won't go for a while," she said. Lucy frowned but didn't say anything.

"Regardless, we have much more work to do on the guild hall. Mira, you should go with Evangeline and look for things for the pool and baths," Master suggested.

"Who will take care of the bar?" Mira asked.

"I'll do it, Mira," Lucy said, smiling to the older woman. Mira smiled at Lucy.

"Thank you, Lucy. It'll be a nice break for the evening. Shall we go, Evangeline?" Mira said. Evangeline nodded.

"If no one else has anything to add, I think we can," Evangeline said. She looked around the table. Lucy still had a frown on her face, and said woman was looking at Evangeline intently. Evangeline tilted her head to the side in question.

"What's wrong, Lucy?" Evangeline asked her. Lucy shook her head.

"Nothing, just thinking. If you want to go shopping again tomorrow I can-" Lucy was cut off by Erza.

"We are leaving for Akane Resort tomorrow, actually," the scarlet mage said. Lucy's eyes widened. Natsu and Gray also seemed to get excited.

"Tomorrow? And how did you get tickets? That place is huge, and super expensive?" Lucy asked, amazed. Erza shrugged.

"We needed a vacation. We have a ticket for you, too, Evangeline," Erza said. Evangeline stopped for a minute to think about her offer.

"If I'm at the station tomorrow, then you know I'm going. I can't say for sure yet," Evangeline said, an apologetic smile on her face. Erza nodded.

"Very well," Erza said.

"We should head out, Evangeline," Mira said. Evangeline nodded to her friend.

"I'll see you either tomorrow or in a few days, then," Evangeline said as she bid goodbye to her friends.

* * *

Mira and Evangeline ended up shopping for hours. The pool wasn't done yet and they needed to pick tile for it. They also needed to pick out lighting and faucets for the showers. They didn't even get started on the baths before the shop closed. By that time, it had started raining. Mira lived close to the shop they had been at, so she was able to quickly get home. Evangeline, unfortunately, lived on the other side of Magnolia. By the time she reached her apartment, she was drenched to the bone.

Evangeline changed out of her wet clothes and into warmer pajamas and went right to bed. She had been thinking about Erza's offer to join Team Natsu at Akane Resort, but she still hadn't made up her mind. It would be nice to go on a true vacation where she could get drunk and gamble to her heart's content. Not that she hadn't done that a lot in the past year, but this time she would be surrounded by friends. She decided to make her final decision in the morning.

Unfortunately, nature decided to make the decision for her. She woke up at 4am with terrible chills. She made her way to her bathroom for a thermometer, and, sure enough, she had a fever off 101 F. Evangeline sighed as she went back to bed. She was swept into a restless sleep.

* * *

Erza didn't see Evangeline at the station right before the group left for Akane. She was actually disappointed, as she was looking forward to spending time with her friend. Honestly, she missed going on S-Class jobs with the blue-haired woman as well. Her spirit was usually so bright, and her energy always kept Erza in good spirits. Of course, that had been before Laxus hurt her.

Although she never liked Laxus, she saw how he acted with Evangeline before the incident. He was like a completely different person around her. He acted like a person, not some power-crazed asshole. Evangeline had a tendency to get sad when people around her were feeling very strong sadness, and this was the case after Lisanna had passed. Laxus had been at the guild frequently at that time at the bar right next to Evangeline. His presence used to calm her in a way no one else could.

Erza had been shocked when she saw Evangeline in the infirmary on that day. She hadn't thought that Laxus was capable of hurting Evangeline, but, apparently, she and everyone else in the guild were wrong. No one was surprised when they announced they were together, or when they got engaged, or when they got married. They were perfect together. Until that day. Erza saw red when she learned what happened, as did everyone else. Laxus disappeared, though. No one heard from him for almost three months after that.

Erza sighed to herself as she sat on the train. Gray looked up at her and seemed to know what she was thinking.

Lucy was thinking to herself about the blue-haired woman that hadn't gone on the trip. She furrowed her brows. She knew the woman was familiar to her. She trusted her instantly, almost like they had met before. Then she looked around the train compartment at her friends, then her eyes widened. Erza looked at the blonde curiously.

"Guys, I've met Evangeline before," she said. Gray's eyes shot to Lucy.

"Really? When?" he asked.

"It was a long time ago," Lucy said. "My mother was the one who talked to her. She had given Evangeline a gold pass to get her on the train, and also so that she could hold a train for a period of time incase she had to. Evangeline was running late to the train." Erza blinked.

"You know, that explains a lot," Erza said. Gray nodded.

"About what?" Lucy asked, not sure what they meant.

"Evangeline took you into her group. All of us are in her group of close people, she called us her ducklings at one point in time. She hasn't really called us that since the incident. But, it's typically hard for her to bring people into her group, especially now. We had new members join before you, but she never really paid them any mind. You, she was immediately attached to. She must remember you," Gray explained.

"Then why didn't she say anything?" Lucy wondered. Erza shrugged.

"Maybe she didn't remember it was you specifically, but you might have reminded her of your mother. You were very young when you met, correct?" Lucy nodded in answer to Erza's question. She continued.

"You also look a lot like your mother. Maybe that's why she took you in?" Erza said. Lucy nodded.

"It's highly possible. Mother talked to her for a while on the train and wrote to her at least once. I doubt that Evangeline would have forgotten her. I didn't have much interaction with her," Lucy said. "I'll ask her when we get back. Speak of, why do you think she didn't come?"

"Honestly, I think she got sick," Gray said. Erza looked over to him.

"Really?" she asked. Gray nodded.

"It was raining last night. She has also been under a lot of stress recently, so her immune system probably isn't working the best," he explained. Erza nodded.

"Indeed. It sounded like she did really want to go," Erza said softly, getting a sad look to her eyes. Gray put a hand on her shoulder.

"We will get to bring her out sometime in the future. Maybe she will have more of her power back too, so we could maybe convince you to take an S-Class job together and have us tag along? This time officially," he added at the end. He was still scared of her after Galuna Island. He hoped it wouldn't hurt his chances at an S-Class promotion nomination that year. Thankfully, Erza nodded.

"If there were two S-Class mages with us, I'd see no problem taking an S-Class job with you. Evangeline was very powerful back in the day. I stood no chance against her in combat," Erza said. Gray's eyes lit up, and Natsu made an odd noise to show he had heard Erza. Lucy, meanwhile, was surprised at what Erza had said about Evangeline's power.

"Wait, she used to be that strong?" Lucy asked. Gray nodded.

"She lost control over most of her magic just like Mira did. Mira is also somewhat consciously deciding to not use her magic, but Evangeline isn't. She's tried accessing it, but she can't. Her magic is so tightly tied to emotions that it's really affecting her. Her magic isn't just limited to emotions, though. Laxus taught her lightning magic. I taught her Ice Make. She knows Requip and sword fighting. She hasn't been able to use it since the incident. There's more to her magic that has to do with Aspen that she can still use, but she feels like she loses herself a bit every time she uses it right now," Gray explained. Lucy frowned.

"Do you think she will get it back?" Lucy asked. Gray sighed.

"I don't know. I hope so. I miss it when flame-brain over here got his ass kicked instantly when he challenged her to a fight. Hell, I miss her kicking my ass when I did something stupid, too," he said.

"We'll get her back," Erza said confidently. Determination was burning in her eyes. "I won't give up on her. You shouldn't either." They both nodded, then the train car got quiet as they continued to Akane Resort.

* * *

Evangeline had taken some fever reducer after she got up again at 8am. She felt Aspen tugging on her to come talk to her. Evangeline sat on her floor and meditated, letting herself get pulled into her mind.

"Great time to get sick, Evangeline," Aspen said with her arms crossed. Evangeline shrugged at her demon.

"Not much I can do about it, sorry," she said. Aspen sighed.

"Regardless. Anima. How to detect it and how to seal it, a crash course over a week," Aspen said in a monotone voice. Evangeline giggled softly. Aspen smiled at her having accomplished her goal.

"Where do we start?" Evangeline asked, sitting down in her mind. She didn't know why she always felt the need to sit in here; it's not like she got tired standing while she technically was just imagining it.

"First, remember that Anima is a dimensional magic to suck magic out of this world into Edolas. The points of extraction are all pre-programmed. That means we can tell where they will appear before they appear. Unfortunately, we don't have a map of these points and the times that they will appear, so we need to use magic to predict these points. It's not so much a spell and more of a continuously acting sensor. Anima will probe points a few hours before actually extracting magic," Aspen explained. Evangeline nodded.

"How do I use my magic to sense the probes, then?" Evangeline asked.

"It's similar to how you push your magic out to pick up on other people's emotions, but instead of feeling for emotions you will be feeling for foreign magic. You'll understand once you feel it the first time," Aspen said. Evangeline frowned.

"So, this is a trial and error thing?" Aspen shook her head.

"Not necessarily. There's a reason I wish you weren't sick right now because it's easier to feel people's magic signatures. You might already be familiar with those in the guild once you actually tune into the magic inside of them," she said. "I want you to go to the guild and try and feel for their magic. Then see how many you can feel at once, and how far away. Mystogan has been doing this for many years, and he might also be able to point out possible spots for Anima to come through if you don't have a large range."

"When I'm starting to feel for Anima, what am I feeling for?"

"The magic will just feel different. You will know it when you feel it, trust me," Aspen insisted. "For now, get ready and go to the guild. Practice feeling magic signatures. This will also help you in the future."

Evangeline nodded, then went back into her body. She changed into clean clothes and went to the guild.

She had just sat down at a table when Mira walked over to her.

"So, you didn't end up going?" Mira said, looking concerned.

"No, I couldn't, I'm-" Evangeline started to say as she went into a coughing fit. The coughing was new. Mira immediately starting fretting over her friend and made one of the members bring her a blanket while she went to get Evangeline some soup. Evangeline tried to resist, but a glare from Mira made her decide to let the woman baby her for the day.

Mira took it a step farther and made a member find a bed and carry it to the guild so Evangeline could lay down. Mira went into full mom mode whenever Evangeline got sick, which thankfully was rare. While Mira was mothering her, or rather smothering her, Evangeline decided to start trying to feel magical signatures in the guild. When she finally found one, she shot up in bed.

Magic signatures were very weird to feel. Evangeline felt like she was intruding almost but realized that the person whose magic she felt was A) Mira, and B) unaware that Evangeline had felt her magic. Mira's magic felt like a slightly tainted orb of energy. Mira used a darker type of magic, so it made sense. Evangeline laid back down quickly before Mira could notice that she had ever sat up. Evangeline continued feeling for specific people's magic energies before she started feeling for many at once.

Several hours and multiple bowls of soup later, Mira decided that it was time for Evangeline to go home. Mira wanted Elfman to carry her back to her apartment, but Evangeline refused, saying that she had two legs and was very well rested. Mira finally gave in after Evangeline used her pleading puppy eyes. She only used it with Mira.

Once she got home, she realized she was running a fever again and took more fever reducers before taking a shower. This, however, was a very bad idea as Evangeline ended up passing out after a few minutes.

Back at the guild, Mira felt like something was wrong. The feeling was eating at her gut and she decided that she had to go check on Evangeline. She all but ran out of the guild and to Evangeline's apartment. She quickly unlocked the door and heard the shower going. Mira knocked on the bathroom door.

"Evangeline?" she asked but got no response. She tried again, speaking louder this time.

"Evangeline?" Mira decided that she needed to go in there. Thankfully, the door wasn't locked. Mira found her collapsed in the shower. She was bleeding from her head and she knew she needed to get her to the hospital. You didn't mess with head injuries. Mira quickly turned off the shower and tried to find the place Evangeline was bleeding from so she could try and stop the bleeding. She carefully wrapped Evangeline in a tower before calling the guild and begging for Elfman to come to Evangeline's apartment.

Elfman arrived at Evangeline's apartment minutes later. Mira still hadn't had luck stemming the bleeding from Evangeline's head, so she placed a towel on the spot and wrapped Evangeline's head with a bandage quickly so Elfman could take her to Porlyusica.

At the guild, Freed was sitting I a corner of the room watching the chaos that was unfolding before him. Elfman had just run off and now everyone was whispering about Evangeline being much sicker than she had appeared. Freed frowned. He liked Evangeline. She was intelligent, funny, and overall a good person. She brought light to the entire guild. He sighed, then stood and left the guild hall in the chaos, slipping away completely unnoticed.

Elfman and Mira arrived at Porlyusica's house as fast as they could. Evangeline's head was still bleeding, and Mira was getting very worried. She knew head wounds bled a lot, but she couldn't get it to stop. She banged on the door as she got there.

"What could you humans need at this-" Porlyusica came out of her house with her broom screaming until she got a look at Evangeline, who was now covered in blood.

"Oh dear, bring her inside, now," the old woman rushed out, letting Mira and Elfman inside with the injured woman. Elfman set her down on the bed closest to him. Porlyusica went to work examining the head wound.

"How long ago did you find her, Mira?" Porlyusica said quickly, still examining the wound and trying to stop the bleeding.

"About thirty minutes ago. She hadn't been away from the guild for more than fifteen minutes before I felt like something bad happened," Mira explained tearfully. Porlyusica frowned.

"And she's still bleeding? And you held pressure on her wound?" the old woman asked, her tone making Mira scared.

"Yes, I couldn't get it to stop," Mira said, tears now rolling down her face. Porlyusica turned to face her.

"Mira, she needs a blood transfusion or else she has no change," the old woman said, rushing away and grabbing tubing from a drawer. "You two have the same blood type."

"I'll do it," Mira said as she sat next to Evangeline's bed. Porlyusica quickly set up the transfusion between he two young women. She then went back to looking at the bluenette's wound. She found it was nearly four inches long, a large cut for the scalp.

"Elfman, call the guild, now," Porlyusica commanded. Elfman did so. Master picked up.

"What's going on," Master said, his tone serious. Porlyusica started talking.

"Evangeline was rushed to me with a decent sized split in her scalp, bleeding profusely. I have Mira sitting for a transfusion right now, we need more with B- though. Is anyone there with B-?" Porlyusica said quickly. Master frowned.

"I don't think so. Freed was here earlier but he snuck out-" Master started as Porlyusica cut him off.

"Call him now and tell him to come here if he wants the girl to live. I can't bleed Mira dry trying to save Evangeline," Porlyusica sounded desperate. Evangeline was one of the ones she actually liked in the guild. Master's face turned grave as he hung up the lacrima.

* * *

Freed's lacrima rung while he was reading in the living room. Evergreen and Bickslow were also in the living room. Freed, curious as to who was calling at this time of night, picked up to see Master on the other side looking very serious.

"Freed, you need to go to Porlyusica's home. Now," he said.

"Why? What happened?" Freed was concerned. Master wouldn't ever send someone there randomly.

"Evangeline. She's bleeding out and Porlyusica can't stop it," he said. Freed's eyes widened, as did Evergreen and Bickslow's.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," the rune mage rushed out. Master nodded, then hung up.

"Freed-?" Evergreen started, but Freed shook his head.

"No time, I have to go now or else it'll be too late," Freed said as he walked to the front door.

"Too late for what?" Laxus said from the doorway to the kitchen.

"Evangeline is dying," Evergreen said softly, tears in her eyes. Evergreen thought of Evangeline as a sister, and she hated what Laxus had done to her. To everyone's surprise, Laxus took in a sharp breath.

"Where is she?" he asked, this time for serious.

"Porlyusica's," Freed said.

"I'll bring you. I can get you there faster," the lightning mage said as he walked over to his teammate. They disappeared in a bolt of lightning. Bickslow and Evergreen looked at each other.

"Did he just?" Ever asked. Bickslow could only nod.

"What the hell?" was all that Bickslow could say. Moments later, Laxus reappeared in the living room with a haunted look in his eyes. He sat down wordlessly on the couch and put his head in his hands.

A while later he spoke, his voice low.

"I don't think I've ever seen that much blood on a living person," was all he said. Evergreen let the tears in her eyes finally spill over.

"Let's pray Porlyusica can save her," Evergreen said. The two males nodded. It was up to their healer now.

* * *

Lightning struck outside of Porlyusica's home and two males came into her tree home. One being Freed, the other being Laxus. Laxus took one look at Evangeline, then turned a sickly shade of white as he turned and left before teleporting back to who knows where. Freed had a similar look in his eyes as he walked over to where the gravely injured woman lay.

"When do I switch with Mira?" he said, trying to regain his composure. He had thought Master to be exaggerating, but Evangeline's condition really was as bad as he had said.

"Mira will be on for another ten minutes, then I'll switch to you with new tubes," Porlyusica said as she worked, trying to get the wound to stop bleeding. Mira looked up at Freed, terror in her eyes. Freed went over to her side and kneeled next to her.

"Mira, she'd already be gone if not for you," he told her and Mira nodded, still crying.

"Dammit, why won't it stop," the pink haired woman shouted, scaring everyone else in the room except for the unconscious Evangeline. "And why didn't Aspen take over…"

Mira bowed her head, letting her shoulders shake as she prayed to and god or spirit that would listen to keep her friend alive. Elfman was also openly crying. Freed clenched his fists.

"Freed, your turn," Porlyusica rushed as she grabbed new tubing for his veins. She quickly restarted the transfusion into Evangeline. Mira went over to her brother and clung to him. Several more minutes passed before Porlyusica sighed.

"It slowed. She's not in danger anymore. Freed, stay for a while longer to replenish more of her blood supply. She went through too much," she said, sounding exhausted. Mira started sobbing, relieved her best friend would live. "Call Makarov."

Freed pulled out his lacrima with one hand and called the guild. Makarov picked up immediately.

"Is she?" he asked, hesitantly.

"She'll survive," Freed said. Master let out a sigh of relief, as did everyone still at the guild. The citizens of Magnolia also noticed that the tension in the air no longer felt suffocating.

"Thank you, Freed," the old man said, tears in his eyes. "Thank you and thank you Mira for saving her." Freed finally let tears fall from his eyes. He never cried, but he figured that on this day it was allowed.

"There's no need to thank me for something anyone would have done," Freed said. Master shook his head.

"If either of you hadn't been here, Evangeline would have been gone. You have both saved her life. You as well, Elfman. Thank you," he said one more time before hanging up.

Freed called Bickslow's lacrima next, knowing that Evergreen would be too distraught to pick up and Freed couldn't bear to see Laxus right now. Bickslow also picked up right away. Freed noticed instantly that he was tense.

"She'll be okay," Freed breathed out. Bickslow leaned back in his chair and put one hand over his eyes. Freed heard Evergreen start sobbing just as Mira had. He heard someone standing up and leaving the room, which must have been Laxus.

"Would you have made it if he hadn't?" Bickslow asked, referring to Laxus's teleporting Freed there. Freed shook his head.

"I wouldn't have made it in time otherwise."

* * *

Porlyusica sent the three uninjured mages home with instructions for Mira and Freed to rest for a few days. After they had left, the pink haired woman sat by the side of Evangeline's bed and looked at the young woman with a sad look in her eyes.

"Oh Evangeline, when will you stop getting into trouble," she sighed. Evangeline had a particularly nasty bacterial infection and gave her antibiotics intravenously to start killing the bug. It would most likely be a few days before she awakened.

Porlyusica heard thunder outside her home again. Except, Laxus didn't come inside. Porlyusica sighed as she stood and walked over to the door and opened it.

"If you insist on making such a noisy appearance, the least you can do it come inside and see your wife," she snapped at him, but her heart wasn't in it.

"She's not my wife anymore, Porlyusica," he said, his head hanging down.

"Come inside, boy. I won't tell you again," she said. Laxus wordlessly followed the old woman into her home and looked at the woman he lost.

"Well what are you waiting for? A written invitation?" Porlyusica said, glaring at him. "Go sit next to her and take her hand. She always recovered quicker when you were around." He slowly went over and sat in the chair next to Evangeline's bed and gently took her right hand into his hands.

"What happened?" Laxus asked, his voice quiet.

"Mira said she found her in the shower at her apartment," Porlyusica said. "She was sick, but she didn't appear to be sick enough to pass out. She has a nasty bacterial infection. Her immune system has been badly impacted just as her magic has."

Laxus took a deep breath.

"Any idea when she might wake up?" he asked again a while later.

"A few days. She was also low on magic, though I don't know why. Aspen also didn't come out like she usually would in this kind of situation," Porlyusica said, expressing her confusion.

"Something else must be going on. She's passed out many times and Aspen always takes over. Always," Laxus said.

"I'll look into it. Do you intend on staying here while she's asleep?" Laxus nodded.

"One more time."

* * *

Several days later, Team Natsu returned from the Tower of Heaven heavily injured. They stopped by Porlyusica's house, only to find Evangeline unconscious in a bed.

"Passed out in the shower and nearly bled to death if not for Mira and Freed," Porlyusica explained quickly, knowing Evangeline would want them to know.

"When?" Gray asked as he sat down next to his adoptive sister and took her hand.

"The same day you all left," she said. Porlyusica made quick work of bandaging up the rest of the team.

Gray, who was still holding Evangeline's hand, felt her tighten her grip on his hand. She slowly opened her eyes.

"Mmm, what happened, my head feels like I got wasted," she groaned. Porlyusica went over to her.

"You collapsed in your shower, Evangeline. You almost bled you, dear," she said. Evangeline's eyes widened. "Mira found you in time and I transfused her blood into you. Freed also gave you some of his. Now, rest. You can go home in a few days, but I want someone to stay with you for a few days after."

Evangeline nodded, then closed her eyes again, falling asleep almost instantly. She felt herself pulled by Aspen.

Aspen was crying. The demon never cried.

"Oh Evangeline, I thought you were going to die," she said as she wrapped her arms around her host. "I couldn't take over. I tried, but I couldn't. I don't know why, exactly. It hasn't ever been a problem before… But I suppose you aren't used to me taking over right now. Your body was also a lot more stress."

Evangeline wrapped her arms around her demon.

"It's okay, Aspen. Remember when I got sick when I was a lot younger? You couldn't take over then, either. My body wouldn't allow it. I think my immune system does something weird with your demon energy when you take over, so it doesn't allow the change," Evangeline said. Aspen nodded into her host's shoulder but held on tight.

"We aren't going after Anima. Mystogan should be stopping by tomorrow. He will understand. At least he has shared with us information about his burden," Aspen said. Evangeline nodded.

"I'm not strong enough right now to be using that much magic on my own," Evangeline said sadly.

"You will be again soon, don't worry," Aspen said as she released her host and practically threw her back into the part of her mind where she would sleep.

Outside of Evangeline's mind, Natsu was sniffing around the room. He growled.

"Mira, Freed, and Elfman weren't the only ones here, were they," he said. Porlyusica looked at him.

"If you are going to be like this then leave. You are all patched up, now leave. Don't come back," she said, chasing Natsu and the rest of the team out with a broom.

When Team Natsu had gotten far enough away from Porlyusica's house, Gray asked Natsu what he meant.

"Laxus was there. For several days it seems like. I don't know why," Natsu said. Erza started getting upset, then calmed herself.

"You know, he might have been called in. Regardless of the situation between them, Porlyusica was there the whole time to watch over them. She also heals better when he's around," Erza said, her voice getting quiet near the end of her statement. "Regardless, let's go back to the guild."

* * *

Team Natsu was amazed to find that the guild hall was done. The offices, the pool, the baths, everything. It was all done, and all new.

"Team Natsu, my office please," Master said, waving them up the stairs. They followed, wondering if it was about Evangeline. Once they had arrived in his office, they found out their assumption was correct.

"Have you heard about Evangeline yet?" They all nodded.

"We stopped by Porlyusica's right before we came here. She's awake now, but Porlyusica told her to rest and she fell back asleep. At least she's okay," Lucy said softly.

"I'll let everyone know that she's awake then. The whole guild has been upset this week because of that," Master said, dismissing them from his office. He followed them out and announced to the guild that Evangeline was awake. The guild decided to throw a party, as was expected.

* * *

Two weeks later, Evangeline was back on her feet and much better. Gray had stayed with her for a few days after she had been allowed to go home just to make sure we okay. The first time that Evangeline stopped by the guild after waking up, she was mobbed by everyone. They actually brought Evangeline to tears by their outpouring of love for her. Mira had forced everyone back, then the two embraced and sobbed on each other for several minutes. The rest of the guild started crying as well from watching the best friends sobbing on each other. Finally, Mira and Evangeline separated from each other, and the guild threw another party.

On another day, Evangeline was walking back from the guild to her apartment when she ran into Freed. She hadn't noticed him until he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a hug.

"I was so scared we were going to lose you," he said as he held her tight to him. Evangeline wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "I miss you and the team."

"We miss you too, Evangeline," Freed told her before letting go of her. They then parted ways.

Mystogan had also stopped by her apartment and Evangeline explained what had happened. He told her that she shouldn't force herself to try and help him, especially after a near death experience. She tried to apologize, but he waved her off. He told her to take care of herself. She promised to at least try, and with that, Mystogan disappeared again.

Gajeel had also apparently joined the guild, as had Juvia. Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten much of a chance to talk with either one of them.

* * *

Evangeline was now sitting at the bar talking to Mira. The Miss Fairy Tail competition was in a few hours, and Evangeline had decided not to enter.

"But why Evagneline," Mira asked her. "You enter every year!"

"I didn't feel like it is all," Evangeline said. Mira rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I call bull. What's the real reason?" Mira asked, this time more serious. Evangeline sighed.

"The scar," she mumbled. "And I have a bad feeling is all."

"Oh, Evangeline," Mira said. "You are the most beautiful woman in Fairy Tail, scared or not. I just need you to know that. I know you hate that scar and it makes you upset. I'm sorry I pushed you."

"No, Mira, it's okay," Evangeline smiled at the woman. "It'll be nice to see from the other side how ridiculous we look up on stage." Mira laughed at that, and Evangeline followed after her.

"Yes, yes. But you still have to come and sing on stage, okay?" Mira said. She wanted Evangeline to promise to sing. Evangeline had a very good voice, but she was very shy.

"Fine, I guess," Evangeline relented. Mira clapped her hands together in excitement.

"I can't wait to hear you sing again," she said. "Actually, you should go now."

"Right now? Mira, I don't think so. I don't have anything memorized right now for the piano," Evangeline said. "I'll do it later."

"Fine," Mira sighed. "But I will make you keep that promise." Evangeline nodded.

"Of course."

Over the next two hours, more people started arriving at the guild. All the contestants had made their way backstage to get ready for the pageant. Evangeline was still at the bar staring into the bottom of her empty glass. She really felt like something bad was going to happen. She just didn't know what it was. She couldn't linger on her feeling, though, because the pageant was about to start.

The contestants were introduced, and each came out for their first round. However, that's when everything went wrong. The curtains of the stage went up to show all the participants turned to stone with Laxus and his team standing near the statues. Evangeline was petrified. She felt like she had been turned to stone.

And just like that, the battle of Fairy Tail had begun. People poured out of the guild hall, but Evangeline still couldn't move. She heard Master cursing and Natsu and Gajeel reading off battle results. It was too much for her, and the world slowly went black.

She came to a short while later, however, Master was also in the infirmary. Porlyusica was telling Levy that she had to find Laxus and tell him that his grandfather wouldn't make it through the battle.

"I'm going with her," Evangeline said, cutting Porlyusica off. "Don't tell me that I can't. I have to face him." Porlyusica wanted to argue but knew that Evangeline needed to do this for her own sake.

Evangeline and Levy arrived at Kardia Cathedral, the same place Evangeline and Laxus had married years before, a few minutes later. Laxus was preparing to cast Fariy Law. It didn't work. Levy ran out in front and tried to get Laxus to stop his attack for his grandfather, but he laughed. That was when Evangeline snapped.

"How dare you," Evangeline seethed as she walked into the cathedral. "How dare you mock your grandfather's impending death. How dare you make your family fight each other in this pointless game. How dare you think yourself above them all." She was stalking forward, her anger coming off her in waves of magic energy. Natsu felt his danger instinct go off as Evangeline got closer.

"Gajeel, Freed, Levy, we need to get out of here," Natsu said as fast as he could.

"Flame-brain, why? Evangeline can't use her magic-" Natsu's glare cut him off.

"Feel. Her. Rage. We need to out of here before she unleashes it on us accidentally. Whatever happened to make her power go away snapped," Natsu said. "She's lethal when she's mad. And she's beyond mad right now. She needs to let out her emotions that she's been pushing down since he hurt her. Let's go." Freed, Levy, and Gajeel all reluctantly left, but Evangeline was thankful that they did. Gajeel stopped one more time to make sure she would be alright.

"Go, Gajeel. This is my fight," Evangeline growled. Gajeel finally left, and Evangeline turned her attention to Laxus.

"You should have let them fight," he said lowly.

"And lose the opportunity to show you everything you've tortured me with for the past year? I was so afraid of you I avoided the guild for weeks at a time," Evangeline started. She wasn't even bothering with her emotional magic. It wasn't what she needed.

"You-" She cut him off.

"No, you don't get to talk right now. You attacked me, your WIFE. You attacked me out of anger. You betrayed every single ounce of trust I put in you and now I can never trust anyone with my heart again. And now, you've pitted my family against each other to fight. You said even to the death. I refuse to let you sit here and make my family fight with each other for a place in your fantasy Fairy Tail. I will beat you here even if it kills me," Evangeline said, releasing another burst of magic. She felt Aspen tugging at her mind, but she refused. She had to fight him. She had to get over her fear.

"And you know the worst thing? I was never angry that you attacked me. I was terrified of you. I'm still terrified, but I know I will never get to move on with my life unless I finally confront you," she finished. She looked him over and noticed he was wearing her necklace. "Why do you have that?" she hissed. He didn't answer, but got mad again.

"Lightning Dragon's Roar," he shouted, sending the roar in her direction.

"Obsidian Dome," Evangeline said, tapping into her dark magic. The shield broke after the attack, but had served its purpose. Laxus appeared behind her, attempting to get her with lightning in his fist. She dodged. He kept leaping around in his lightning body form trying to attack her, but she dodged too fast.

"Did you already forget what we learned, Laxus?" Evangeline shouted, as he was now on the opposite side of the cathedral.

"You're just like the rest of them if all you can do is dodge," he said. Evangeline smirked.

"You have forgotten then," she said as she walked forward. She didn't have a single scratch on her. She felt powerful with her magic now accessible again. However, she noticed something else. She heard him. He wasn't speaking, though. There was a war going on in his head.

"_You idiot, stop attacking her,"_ one of the voices was saying.

"_**Keep going, you know you want to break her,**__" _the other voice said. That one was dripping in darkness.

"There's a war going on inside you right now, Laxus," Evangeline said.

"There's not, though. I'm trying to figure out which was will be best for me to finally take you out," he growled. Evangeline knew he was taken over by the dragon lacrima inside him. It was making him darker. It was made her Laxus change. All because of his father.

"Oh, there is. I'm going to beat the shit out of you and hope that makes the dark voice inside you go away," she said. He laughed.

"You think you can do anything? You couldn't even defend against a lightning bolt in an argument," Laxus said. She hated this Laxus. She vowed not to hate, but she hated this darkness.

"You don't know everything about me, Laxus. I'll beat you if it's the last thing I do," Evangeline said as she launched herself towards him in her own lightning body. "Did you forget you taught me your magic? That I know absolutely everything about you?"

Evangeline knew attacking him with lightning was pointless, but she could attack him with her own fists, not to mention her ice and obsidian. She Requiped the sword that Laxus had gotten her a few years ago that he had made specifically for absorbing his lightning magic. Laxus, seemingly having forgotten about the sword's abilities, threw another lightning attack at her, only for it to be absorbed.

They clashed like this several more times until Laxus managed to throw her across the cathedral. She landed on her feet and slid back. She dismissed her sword and got into stance for ice magic.

"Ice Make: Cage," she said as she cast a cage of ice around Laxus. It wouldn't hold him long in his dragon force mode.

"Obsidian Binding: Demon's Capture: Lilith's Chains," Evangeline cast. It was her strongest obsidian binding spell. Black chains formed around Laxus's wrists and ankles and pull him to his knees. She walked towards him. He glared at her, but she knew the conversation going on in his head.

"_She's always been the stronger of the two of us,"_ the voice she dubbed "regular Laxus" said.

"_**She'll go down, I'll kill her,**_" the voice she dubbed "dark Laxus" responded.

"_She will win. I don't care if she kills us, at least she won't have to deal with the pain we cause anymore," _regular Laxus said. Evangeline stopped in front of Laxus. She put a finger to his forehead.

"Eyes of Light: Redpemtion," she said. She sent a huge amount of magic into Laxus's system, finding the darkness and eradicating it. She quickly released the chains that were holding on to Laxus, and he collapsed. Evangeline went down near him.

"Laxus? Are you back?" Evangeline asked softly. She heard him take a deep breath before she heard him try and move over to her. He had no energy left. Neither did she, to be fair. He finally reached her side after pulling himself over and flipped onto his back next to her. He then grabbed her right hand.

"I'm here," he whispered. Laxus closed his eyes, not that she could see.

"What happened, Laxus?" she asked, tears starting to stream down her face.

"I gave into the dark instead of your light. I've been fighting it around you since Ivan was banished. Last year it slipped," he said, his voice quiet and strained next to her.

"Why didn't you tell me it was there?" she asked.

"I didn't want to worry you, but look where we ended up," he sighed.

"We're in the same spot we got married, exhausted after fighting each other with no restraint," Evangeline said sadly. "I'm sorry you went through that on your own."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he replied, tightening his grip on her hand. She did the same to him.

"I heard your mind," Evangeline said. "I heard the two voices. That's when I realized it was you that attacked me."

"It was me," Laxus said. "It was me because I didn't resist it. I got ahold of it after and realized what had happened. I blackout almost when it takes over. I couldn't believe I'd actually hurt you. I got you to the guild and dropped you off. I wanted to stay but I couldn't. I felt too guilty. That's why I tried to make the divorce as easy as possible. I never deserved you." Evangeline tilted her head to the side and looked at him. She rolled over onto her right side and reached over to his face with her left hand.

"I never stopped loving you," she said, running the tips of her fingers over the side of his face. "You gave me a reason to be happy. You gave me a reason to get stronger. I wasn't strong enough to see the darkness take hold in you." Laxus tilted his head to look at her.

"Even as a bloody mess, you still manage to look beautiful," he said, a small chuckle on his lips.

"Laxus, listen to me. Come back to me, please," Evangeline said, more tears pouring down her cheeks. Laxus reached over with his right hand and brushed some of her tears away.

"You need someone better, Ev. I doubt I'll be allowed to stay after this mess," he sighed. Evagneline shook her head.

"No, I don't want to be with anyone else. You hurt me. You didn't tell me about the darkness so I couldn't stop it from getting stronger. That's not all your fault, Laxus. Please," Evangeline said, desperation in her voice. Laxus shook his head.

"Ev, listen to me. You gotta move on, I don't deserve to be here next to you," he said, studying her face. He wanted to remember her because as far as he knew, this was the last time he'd see her. He ran his hand down to her neck and before she knew it, he hit a pressure point to knock her out. She didn't completely slip out of consciousness until after she heard him say

"I love you."

* * *

Evangeline woke up the next day. The parade had happened last night, and Laxus had been expelled. Master called her into his office and handed her a box.

"He left that for you," was all he said before he left the room. She opened it, and inside was her dragon pendant along with a letter.

_Ev,_

_I'm sorry about everything. My time with you was the best of my life, and I managed to mess that up for both of us. I put you in danger. I hurt you. I can't be with you, Ev. I love you too much to hurt you again. _

_The necklace is yours. I gave it to you after THAT job, but you remember that. I'm always with you when you have that on. _

_Go on with your life, Ev. Try and be happy, find someone who isn't like me. You mean the world to me and I only want the best for you. _

_Laxus_

Evangeline putt he necklace on and then scrunched the letter in her hand. She left Master's office and ran intro Gray, who was waiting for her. She flung her arms around him and started sobbing. She thought she was far enough away from the main part of the building that no one would hear her, but everyone in Fairy Tail heard her sobbing in pain. Gray picked her up and carried her down the stairs to the main floor. She didn't want to be with too many people, but she needed it. He sat with her at a table, and Erza put a hand on the woman's shoulder. Mira put her hand on Evangeline's other shoulder. Natsu put his hand on Mira's shoulder, and Lucy put hers on Erza's. The members of Fairy Tail started to form a web spanning out from Evangeline in the middle. They all channeled a small amount of magic to the person in front of them until all their magic had reached Evangeline. The crying woman didn't even know that her guild mark had started to glow, as had everyone else's.

Upstairs, Mavis was watching as the members of her guild sent their love to one of theirs who was hurting. She smiled sadly. She had wished Evangeline didn't have to go through the pain she was in. Mavis knew what it was like to lose the one you love, even if they were still technically alive. Mavis decided that she would bestow a gift on Evangeline in that moment.

"You are worthy of Fairy Law, Evangeline. I hereby grant one of the sacred magics of Fairy Tail to you," Mavis whispered. "Perhaps in time I will grant you Fairy Glitter as well."

**Okay, a bit shorter than the last two, but this is where I want to stop it. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Past: Live

**Back to the past! Next chapter! (Disclaimer. I own none of the songs. There.)**

_Year 3_

Evangeline was sitting at a table with Gray and Laxus when a small red-haired girl walked into the guild to join. She felt incredible sadness coming from the girl. She also noticed the white eyepatch covering her right eye. The girl was also very thin and had scars all over her body. It didn't take a mind reader to figure out the gist of what had happened to her. Evangeline tightened her grip on her cup to the point that it shattered. Laxus, who was sitting next to her, carefully took the remaining shards of glass from Evangeline's hands and checked them over for cuts. After not seeing any, he drew her close to him.

Laxus had seen too many kids like the one who had just entered the guild. Abused by sick people who couldn't find anything better to do with their time. It made him angry. He and Evangeline had gone on enough jobs to stop child trafficking rings that they had both become accustomed to the signs. He just hoped this new girl hadn't had anything too horrible happen to her. He turned back to look at the girl who was now talking to his grandfather. He gave the girl her stamp signifying she was a member, then she stalked off to a table in the corner. He gave his grandfather a questioning glance, and Makarov shook his head.

Gray was confused. He knew the girl who just joined looked rough, but he didn't know why Evangeline and Laxus reacted the way they did. Laxus glanced back at him, and sighed.

"Ev, let's go home for now," Laxus said quietly to her. She nodded. "Gray, you come too. We will explain." Gray nodded. The three stood and left the guild. Evangeline didn't want to leave yet, but she knew that she couldn't approach the girl right away. It didn't take long for the group to get back to the Hastings house.

"So why did you react that way, Ev?" Gray asked as soon as they were all sitting on the couches in one of the living rooms. Evangeline sighed.

"Gray, as you get older, you learn things you wish you didn't have to know. This is one of those situations. The past few jobs that Laxus and I have gone on are to fight against people who do bad things to kids," Evangeline started to explain. Gray frowned.

"Like what?" he asked. Evangeline smiled sadly at her still decently innocent little brother. Laxus took over.

"They beat these kids, Gray. They hit them and kick these kids, and they do other terrible things to them. The new girl looks like she got out of a situation where she was abused. She's missing an eye, and she has scars all over. She's gone through a lot," Laxus said. Gray kept frowning.

"How could they, though? I don't understand," Gray said.

"They are terrible people, Gray. Some people do terrible things and they need to get put in jail," Evangeline said. Gray nodded.

"They shouldn't be able to do that to kids," Gray said. "It's not right."

"It's not. Now, the new girl might seem odd at first because she doesn't feel safe in the guild yet. She might need some time to open up to people. Don't force her to do or say anything she isn't comfortable with. If she opens up to you, don't tell us what she tells you unless she's in danger, okay? If she trusts you, then make sure you keep that trust," Laxcus explained. "It's like you when you joined. You were combative because you were hurting and lost. Then you found Ev, and she made everything better."

"Okay," Gray said, nodding. "I can do that. Can we go back to the guild now?"

"Not until we finish our stupid math homework Mom and Dad left," Evangeline huffed. They were out on yet another job, and they decided that Evangeline and Gray needed to start subject study. That included math. Laxus also joined in because Evangeline made him.

Thankfully, their homework didn't take long to finish. Gray was actually really smart; he just didn't like to show it. He was good with numbers and could talk anyone around a situation. Evangeline thought that if he wasn't a mage, he would have been a good candidate to go to university and study law. The group then returned to the guild. The new girl was still sitting quietly in the corner of the guild. Evangeline decided to slowly approach her table alone to try and get the girl's name.

"My name is Evangeline. Welcome to Fairy Tail," she said softly, a small smile on her face. She felt a lot of hesitance in the girl, but she tried to gently sooth it away. "What's your name?"

"Erza Scarlet," she answered. Erza was tense. Evangeline decided to not take a seat across from her just to give her space.

"It's nice to meet you, Erza. Have you eaten yet today?" Evangeline asked, already knowing the answer because she could feel that the younger girl was hungry. Erza shook her head.

"No, I don't really… Have any money," she said quietly, her head dropping.

"That's okay, Erza. What would you like?" Evangeline asked her. Erza frowned.

"You don't have to," Erza said. Evangeline put a hand up and shook her head.

"I want to, Erza. Anything you'd prefer to have?" Evangeline asked again. Erza shook her head. Evangeline nodded and went to the bar to order some food. She decided to get Erza a burger, fries, chocolate shake, and a piece of strawberry cake. Evangeline ordered the same for herself. She went back to Erza's table after ordering.

"Would you like to meet some more kids around our age, Erza?" Evangeline asked the girl. Erza thought about it for a minute but shook her head.

"Maybe tomorrow?" she answered quietly. Evangeline nodded.

"Whenever you are ready," Evangeline said. Erza stared at her in confusion.

"I don't understand you," Erza said bluntly. Evangeline blinked.

"What about me confuses you, Erza?" Evangeline asked. She was genuinely curious.

"You're too nice," Erza said. Evangeline smiled sadly at her.

"Ah, Erza, you'll learn that almost everyone in Fairy Tail is like me. We always try and be nice to each other. We are family here," Evangeline said. "You don't have to get to know everyone right away, but I'd like you to meet Gray, Laxus, and Cana tomorrow if you are up to it. We are the youngest four. We might be able to all go out on a job in Magnolia in a few days to get you some money, too." Just then, someone came by with the girls' food.

"You can sit, Evangeline," Erza said as she stared at her food. Evangeline sat down across from the girl.

"Thank you, Erza. I ordered us the same thing, since I wasn't sure what you would like. The strawberry cake is great," Evangeline said. Erza grabbed the piece of cake and a fork, then cut off a piece and put it in her mouth. Her eyes lit up.

"This is amazing," Erza said in awe. "I've never tasted anything like this." Evangeline smiled softly at the girl.

"I'm glad you like it. You can call me Ev by the way. It's faster than saying Evangeline every time," she said. Erza nodded before devouring her cake and then turning to the rest of her food. Evangeline dug into her food as well.

Meanwhile, across the guild, Laxus and Gray were watching Evangeline interact with Erza.

"I see what you mean now," Gray said.

"About what?" Laxus asked, confused.

"Evangeline isn't getting too close to her. She has been talking to her for a long time and only sat down when the new girl invited her to," Gray said. Laxus nodded. He was glad Gray had picked that up. Undoubtedly, he would be dealing with abused kids in the future and knowing how to make them comfortable was a big deal.

"I'm glad you picked that up," Laxus told him. "Sounds like Ev wants us to meet her tomorrow if new girl is ready. Sounds like her name is Erza."

"You could hear that from here?" Gray asked, curious. Laxus panicked for a second internally since Gray didn't know he was a dragon slayer.

"Might have been wrong, too," Laxus said, trying to cover for himself. Gray shrugged, not really caring.

"We'll find out later from Evangeline too," Gray said. Laxus nodded.

* * *

Eventually, Erza left the guild hall and went to her room in Fairy Hills. Evangeline went over to the boys and told them that they would meet Erza tomorrow if she was comfortable. Evangeline also said she wanted their generation to take Erza on a job in Magnolia to get the girl some spending money until she was more acquainted with how everything worked in a guild. Gray and Laxus agreed. They went back to the Hastings house for the night.

Gray had gone upstairs and gone to bed already while Evangeline and Laxus were in Evangeline's room. They were sitting on her bed.

"She was in a place called the Tower of Heaven," Evangeline told him. "I was digging around through her memories over dinner."

"Some name for a slave project," Laxus said. Evangeline sighed.

"Poor girl went through a lot there. There were a lot of other kids there too. Rob was also there," Evangeline trailed off. Laxus looked at her in disbelief.

"Rob? That's where he's been? We gotta go help him," Laxus said, moving to get up. Evangeline grabbed him. He looked back at her and saw her shake her head with tears in her eyes.

"He's gone, Laxus. He sacrificed himself to save her and the other kids," she said. Laxus frowned as he scooted back next to her and put his arms around her. They both stayed quiet for a while after that.

"Are you gunna tell Gramps?" Laxus asked her. She shook her head.

"It's not my place to tell. Erza needs to be the one. I shouldn't know," Evangeline said. Laxus sighed but agreed with her judgement. He leaned back to lay down on the bed, pulling Evangeline with him. Evangeline shifted in his arms, so she was resting her head on his chest.

"Why does this always happen," Evangeline mumbled. Laxus rubbed circles on her back and kissed the top of her head.

"That's how life works, Ev. We can't control everything. Just have to live for each day. Rob knew what he was doing," Laxus said quietly.

"I know," Evangeline said. "I just… I wish no one had to die like that. I wish I got to say goodbye."

"Me too, Ev," he said as he tightened his arms around her. He looked over to the clock on her wall and saw it was getting late. "We should get some sleep, Ev."

"Probably should," Evangeline said as she yawned. "You're not going anywhere, right?"

"Never."

* * *

The next day came and Erza had agreed to meet Laxus, Gray and Cana. Erza was weirded out by Gray's stripping habit, but Evangeline said they had already tried to make him stop and it just wasn't going to work. She thought Laxus and Cana were alright as well. Erza found herself clinging to Evangeline, though.

Evangeline asked Erza if she wanted to do a quick job in Magnolia that afternoon since she had already agreed to one with Gray and Cana. Erza thought about it for a while before she decided to tag along. The job was to help run a silent auction benefiting the hospital in Magnolia by announcing the winning bidders. It was incredibly easy. Evangeline and Laxus didn't actually participate but were there just incase someone decided to be an ass. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Erza had a lot of fun even though it was an easy job.

More weeks went by with Erza taking jobs with Cana and Gray, and slowly the red head started talking to more members of the guild. Evangeline couldn't be happier because now she felt like she could take a larger job again with Laxus for a few weeks. Her parents were still off on another job for the council. Evangeline went to the request board and picked out one to take out a small dark guild terrorizing a small down west of Sunset Town and brought it to Master for approval.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" he asked as he approved the job for her and Laxus. Evangeline shrugged.

"Up to two weeks. We might be better off getting some information about them first to see who their most powerful members are so we can try and wipe them out first," Evangeline said. Master nodded.

"You kids be careful. Let us know if something happens," he said, and Evangeline walked back to the table Laxus was sitting at.

"Approved?" Laxus asked. Evangeline nodded.

"Dark guild terrorizing a small farming village. I gave us a two-week timeline," Evangeline said. Laxus raised an eyebrow at her.

"This shouldn't take us any more than three days tops," he said. Evangeline shrugged.

"They might have a few stronger mages. I want to investigate as much as possible, so we avoid any difficult situations," she said. Laxus rolled his eyes.

"We can take out Gildarts ourselves. We'll be fine against almost anyone," he said. "Why did you really give us two weeks?" Evangeline sighed.

"Must you do this every time?" she complained. Laxus laughed.

"I will whenever you do things like this. Now why are we going to be gone for two weeks?" he said more seriously. Evangeline sighed again. "Stop sighing."

"Fine. I wanted to take one week to do the job, one week for more training. We get pretty destructive usually so we can go to our old clearing," Evangeline said.

"And we couldn't have just left for a week after we got back?" Laxus asked. Evangeline didn't know why he was making this so difficult.

"Do you want more train rides?" Evangeline glared at him. Laxus paled.

"No. Thank you," he rushed. Evangeline smirked.

"We can always come back right after we get done, I don't mind. Gives me more opportunities to flash my fancy free pass," she said. Laxus got even paler.

"Please no, let's not. I'm sorry, I won't do it again," he begged her. Evangeline laughed.

"Good. We leave tomorrow morning," she said. "Let's try and catch the 9am."

"We'll have to set your alarm for once," he said. Evangeline sighed.

"I guess so. I hate that thing," she said bitterly. Laxus nodded. Evangeline's alarm clock was terrible. It was too loud and obnoxious and hard to turn off.

"I'll buy you a new one when we get back?" he offered. Evangeline nodded.

"Given it will benefit us both, I don't see why not," she said. "Do you she'll be okay while I'm gone?"

"Erza will be fine. She's got Cana and Gray. They will protect her. Stop worrying so much," Laxus told her.

"I can't help it," Evangeline said, pouting. Laxus leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"You're cute when you worry, just don't make such a habit of it," he said as Evangeline flushed.

"Hush you," she told him.

Erza was watching the two interact from across the guild hall. She was sitting with Gray and Cana. Gray seemed to notice she was looking in Evangeline and Laxus's direction and she must have been confused, so he decided to clarify.

"Those two have been unofficially officially together for a few months now. Honestly, probably before they left to train with Gildarts. They always liked each other. Now they are just more open with it," Gray explained. Erza blinked.

"And you are okay with them together?" Erza asked him. "You are her brother."

"They were kind of like this even before I joined a few years ago," Gray said. Erza seemed even more confused. "Oh, yeah, Evangeline is more like my adoptive sister. I've lived with her family for years now."

"Oh, I thought you were actual siblings," Erza said. Gray shrugged.

"Blood doesn't really matter in Fairy Tail. While we are all family in this guild, some of us are closer in our own little families," he explained.

"I came here after my mom died. Evangeline kind of became my big sister too," Cana said, jumping in. "I just wish a few younger kids would join so I could try and be to them what Ev was to me." Erza was amazed.

"She's something special, isn't she?" Erza remarked, fascinated by the older girl. Both Cana and Gray nodded.

"That she is."

* * *

Laxus hated trains. He expressed this every time he had to ride one.

"Why can't we just teleport there," he complained. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"It's too far, and we both know you are absolutely terrible when it comes to directions," Evangeline said. "Now put on your sound pods and sleep. I'll wake you when we get there." Laxus groaned but did what she said. He passed out not long after. After making sure he was asleep, Evangeline closed her eyes and started meditating when something happened. She didn't go to her usually internal realm with Aspen. She was at the guild, but it looked different. It was destroyed.

Evangeline felt like she was watching a dream. There were iron rods sticking out of the guild hall. The scene jumped to showing three people bolted to a tree in Magnolia park. Then she saw a fight at a guild she knew as Phantom Lord from the symbol. Then she was transformed into Aspen, but she was older than she was now. Then she was shaken awake.

"Ev, what happened?" Laxus said, sounding worried. He was sitting next to her now.

"What do you mean?" Evangeline asked.

"Ev, you were like, glowing," he said. Evangeline's eyes widened.

"I was trying to meditate to maybe talk to Aspen for a while, but I wasn't pulled to that part of my mind. I saw Fairy Tail destroyed by Phantom Lord," she said. Laxus looked at her with wide eyes.

"They attacked us? Now? In a guild war? We gotta-" Laxus started, but Evangeline cut him off.

"It was in the future, Laxus. Not right now," she said. "I don't know why I saw it, though. That's never happened before."

"Let's talk to gramps after we get back," he said. "Or my dad, he seems to know a lot about random things." Evangeline frowned at mention of Laxus's father. She didn't like the vibe that man gave off. He was also very harsh with Laxus.

"We'll talk to Master. Probably also my parents," she said. Laxus nodded, accepting her answer. The train shook a little harder than normal and Laxus turned green.

"Rest your head in my lap and sleep," she said. Laxus did so without hesitation. Evangeline stroked through his hair, eventually lulling him to sleep. Evangeline decided against trying to talk to Aspen lest she get pulled into that odd future space again without knowing what it actually was. Aspen's single pull on her mind told her that Aspen agreed.

A short while later, they arrived in Sunset Town. Laxus was excited to be off the train, and Evangeline was excited to have feeling back in her legs. They had gone numb about fifteen minutes after Laxus had fallen asleep on her. They had to walk the rest of the way to the farming village their job was in. That itself would take about three and a half hours, thus why Evangeline suggested taking the early train.

Evangeline quickly found herself tired of walking.

"I'm bored," she said. Laxus had his sound pods on, but he still heard her.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it," he sighed. Evangeline sent a half-hearted glare at him.

"Entertain me," she said. Laxus rolled his eyes.

"Requip your sound pods, Ev," he said. Evangeline stopped walking and blinked. Noticing she stopped, Laxus stopped as well and looked back at her.

"Why didn't I think of that earlier?" Evangeline asked before doing what Laxus had suggested. Laxus laughed and continued walking once she had caught up to his side. They walked next to each other contently for another hour before Evangeline, unfortunately, tripped over her own foot and twisted her ankle.

"Really, Ev?" Laxus sighed. Evangeline pouted.

"It's not my fault," she said. Laxus rolled his eyes.

"Yes, it was, Miss Clumsy," he said. He helped her stand back up, but she started walking with a limp. Laxus stopped her before making her get on his back so he could carry her.

"Are you sure? I can probably walk it off, and we have another two hours at least," Evangeline said.

"Just get on."

* * *

Laxus carried her the whole way to the town their job was in. Evangeline actually fell asleep about half an hour after she climbed onto his back. Laxus was glad she hadn't tried to walk the whole way. He went to the only inn in the small town and decided to wake Evangeline up.

"Hey, Ev, we're here," he said Evangeline buried her face into his shoulder.

"Already?" she said as she yawned. "You can set me down, my ankle feels a lot better." Laxus set her down and they went to get a room. They only ever got one room now since Laxus always slept in her bed now anyway. After checking in, they got settled into their room for a while before trying to find dinner. They walked around the small town and found a diner. About an hour and a half later, they were back in their room.

"When are we checking in with the client again?" Laxus said quite loudly to Evangeline, who was in the shower.

"Noon, so we will have some time to walk around in the morning," Evangeline replied.

"Ev, you've been in the shower for almost 45 minutes," Laxus said. He heard her turn the water off. He could practically feel her glaring at him through the wall and chuckled to himself. A few minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom with her wet hair up in a towel.

"Fine, I'm done, go ahead," she said. She sat down on their bed and started combing through her long blue hair. She wasn't finished working through all of it yet when Laxus came out of the bathroom with his pajama bottoms on. He sat down behind her on their bed and grabbed the comb out of her hand. He loved her hair. He finished working through the knots in her hair and then braided it for her.

Evangeline enjoyed it whenever Laxus did her hair. She knew he loved her hair. She would catch him playing with her hair at the guild and at home all the time. She found it calming. Of course, Laxus never braided her hair at the guild because he didn't want the older members to make fun of him. Evangeline thought it was cute that he had her teach him how to do it.

"We should probably get some sleep," Laxus said as he finished braiding Evangeline's hair. Evangeline nodded and they both stood to get under the covers. Laxus put an arm protectively around Evangeline and they both fell asleep.

The next day consisted of the teens meeting with the mayor of the town and traveling to different farms getting information about the dark guild. They found out there were at least two stronger mages, but a majority of the mages weren't terribly strong. They just had destructive magic. After that, they settled at the same diner that had eaten at the night before for some food.

"So, what's the plan?" Laxus asked. He generally went along with whatever Evangeline said.

"We should be fine to go in guns blazing honestly," Evangeline said. Laxus gave her a weird look.

"You never say that," Laxus said suspiciously. "Why now?"

"Think about it. The second we attack they will be attacking. Most of them have fire magic. Their guild hall is made of wood. Also, from the descriptions we've had of most of them, we won't need much magic to take most of them out. The two stronger ones we will take on after we take out the weaker ones. We shouldn't let them stay conscious because they could become a problem later on," she said. Laxus shrugged.

"If you think that's best, then that's what we'll do. It'll be fun regardless," he said. Evangeline laughed quietly to herself.

"Sure, fun. When do we want to go after them?" Evangeline asked.

"Tonight. I want to take them out as fast as possible. Word has probably already reached them that there are mages here to get them. They are probably going to underestimate us because we are younger than who they would usually send on this kind of a job. We have all the advantage except that we don't know how their guild hall is organized," Laxus said. Evangeline nodded in agreement.

"Tonight then," she said. A few minutes later, they paid for their food and went back to the inn. Evangeline summoned her swords one by one to sharpen them for the battle ahead. She might not use them, but if she needed to, she wanted to make sure they were as sharp as possible.

A few hours later, just before sunset, they went to the guild hall. It wasn't big, but just as Evangeline expected, it was made of wood. She felt for how many different people there were in the hall based off their emotions. She felt lots of nervousness, but also several people were excited. In total she felt about thirty.

"Thirty. About four are excited, the rest are nervous. I'll start with their emotions," Evangeline said quietly. Laxus nodded. It wouldn't take long for her to take a hold and make them all nervous and doubtful of themselves. She also boosted their positive emotions so they would fight better. A minute later, she nodded to him. She was ready for phase two.

They walked to the doors of the dark guild and Laxus sent them open with a bolt of lightning. Mages inside started screaming, and several lashed out with fire attacks. Laxus and Evangeline started sending a barrage of lightning towards the mages inside the guild, succeeding in knocking most of them out.

"Oh, looks like the kiddies are here already," a deep voice said from inside the smoke that was inside the guild hall.

"I guess so, Arashi, shall we dispose of them?" another voice, this one more feminine, said.

"Yes, my dear. Let's show them the power of the Dark Duo," the man, Arashi, said. Laxus snorted.

"Dark Duo? What kind of pathetic team name is that," he said.

"You are a fool to insult us," the woman said.

"I think you need to both get knocked down a few pegs," Evangeline said. She requipped one of her swords. This one was a gift from Gildarts after their training trip was completed. It was a beautiful steel blade with blue cherry blossom inlays.

"Slicing Winds," Arashi yelled. Evangeline used her lightning body to appear in front of Laxus and sliced through the attack. Arashi and the woman he was with saw her slice through it because the wind made the smoke dissipate.

"How?" the woman said in disbelief.

"This is a special blade. It has the ability to slice through any attack," Evangeline said. "Unless, of course, you are a dragon."

"And here I thought you two were supposed to be stronger," Laxus said, sounding bored.

"Now, Laxus, don't be rude," Evangeline said as she rolled her eyes. She had been expecting a better fight as well.

"Demon Bomb," the woman cried out, sending a dark orb of magic their way. Evangeline sliced through it as well.

"Go ahead and take them out, Laxus," Evangeline said. "I had all the fun last time." With that, Laxus sent powerful bolts of lightning at both of them, knocking both mages unconscious. Evangeline felt for anyone that wasn't asleep and didn't find any who weren't.

"It'll probably take a while for the rune knights in Sunset to get here," Laxus said. "Should probably bind them."

"Obsidian Binding," Evangeline said, casting the spell on all the enemy mages. The black rock wrapped all of them so they couldn't use their hands. No one would be able to break out of it, either. Evangeline dismissed her blade.

The rune knights arrived five hours later. Evangeline and Laxus were bored out of their minds, especially because some of the mages had awakened from their slumber and were squawking at them about how they wanted a real fight. Evangeline eventually extended the binding to close their mouths. After all the mages in the dark guild were accounted for, they were allowed to go back to their inn and rest.

"Well, I guess we will have more than a week for training. What were you hoping to work on?" Laxus asked when they were getting into bed.

"Thoughts. I want to read thoughts. I need to get it eventually," she said. Laxus chuckled at how stubborn she was. When she made her mind up, it was easier to make a mountain move than change her mind.

"We'll see. If that doesn't work out, let's work on more lighting," he said. Evangeline nodded.

"Sounds good."

Evangeline still couldn't get reading thoughts. Over a week wasn't a lot of time for training, but it was something. They sparred with each other, each critiquing the other on form and magic output. Laxus struggled with needlessly expending more magic than he needed to, while Evangeline tended to underpower her attacks for their size. Laxus had a huge amount of magic, as did Evangeline, but they wanted to increase their magic containers, so they made sure they were running low every day. Evangeline wanted Gildarts to teach her his continuous flow but Gildarts said he refused to teach them.

Finally, they were back in Magnolia. They arrived back at the guild to find Evangeline's parents had returned.

"Mom, Dad," she said, walking over to their table.

"Ah, Evangeline, it's been a while, hasn't it," her mother said. Evangeline rolled her eyes, and both her parents laughed.

"Yes, yes, we have been gone a lot. You were also gone for a number of months if you can remember, Missy," her father said. Evangeline huffed.

"Can we at least take a family vacation for a few days? Please?" she asked. Her parents sighed, and Evangeline's head dropped.

"We are doing delicate things for the council right now. We were allowed home for the past few days and tomorrow as well before we return. Now, there is something else nagging your mind that you wished to speak with us about?" her mother said. Evangeline nodded as she sat down with her parents. Laxus joined her.

"Basically, I was trying to talk to Aspen on the train to Sunset, but then something happened. I didn't go to that place in my mind where I can usually find her. I found myself at the guild hall instead, but it was destroyed by iron rods. Then it flashed to another scene, and I looked older. Phantom Lord was at war with us, that's really all I can remember," she said. Her parents frowned in unison.

"While that was happening, her magic started leaking. It was bad to the point it woke me up," Laxus added.

"Premonition? I suppose. It's rare, but it could happen. If possible, try and go back to that place again while we are gone. I don't think it's dangerous, but there have been instances of Hastings having this power in the past," her father explained. Evangeline nodded.

"Just don't do it alone if you can help it," her mother said. Evangeline felt concern growing in her.

The doors to the guild hall opened again to show the three younger kids coming back from another job in Magnolia. All three of them spotted Evangeline and went to tackle her as she stood from the table she was at.

"My gosh, guys, I didn't know you'd miss me this much," Evangeline laughed as she held all three in a hug.

"You're squishing her. Get off," Laxus said bluntly. The kids didn't listen.

"Oh, let them be, Laxus," she laughed. Evangeline's parents shook their heads at the kids' antics, and also their thoughts.

* * *

_Year 4_

Evangeline sighed. She was bored. It was early July now and her parents had been gone for almost 7 months this time. Laxus had been taken somewhere by his father to do God knows what, and the newly named Team Next Gen were away on their first job outside of Magnolia. It turned out that Erza was a magnificent fighter. She'd make S-Class in a few years easily. Gray and Cana were also getting stronger.

Suddenly, Evangeline found herself pulled into her mind by Aspen, who happened to be freaking out.

"Evangeline, something just happened. Something called the Eclipse Gate was just opened. Several children were just sent through," Aspen rushed out.

"What's the Eclipse Gate? I'm confused," Evangeline said.

"The Eclipse Gate is a powerful magical door that requires celestial magic to open. All twelve zodiac gate keys must be opened in order to open the gate, and that was somehow done," Aspen said. "The door links periods in time. I heard of this plan many years ago, and I don't know all the details, but several children are now in this time period that are not supposed to be here."

"What do you want me to do, then?" Evangeline asked. Aspen sighed.

"Nothing. There's nothing we can do. I just wanted to pull you in here and explain. These children are dragon slayers, all trained by real dragons. They aren't like Laxus," Aspen said. "They are very powerful. Should you ever have one join this guild, make sure they are nurtured and cared for just like other children."

Evangeline nodded, still confused as to why Aspen thought it necessary to pull Evangeline away from the conscious world but went along with it anyway. Aspen dismissed her and Evangeline was suddenly awake again. Just then, the guild doors opened to show Master with a pink haired boy wearing a scarf.

"Listen up, everyone! This is Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer," he announced. The guild went into an uproar and cheered. Evangeline stayed quiet as she looked at the kid. He was probably around the same age as Gray, but they were opposite elements. She would have to see how they got along. Master and Natsu went to the bar and Natsu got his stamp.

"Evangeline, would you come to my office, please?" Master said a few minutes later. She nodded and followed him upstairs. She sat in the chair across from his desk.

"I've had a request put in for you to do a job in Hargeon. It would be about a month long to do mass crowd control at concerts to make sure no one gets too combative. Fights have been common there recently during concerts, and the organizers would like you to stay for the duration of concert season before they close port for the winter. Pay would be 800,000 jewel. You are free to refuse, of course," Master explained. Evangeline nodded.

"I'll accept. I take it I'll need to take the night train tonight?" Evangeline asked. Master nodded.

"The client would like you to be there as soon as possible. I'll let Gray, Cana, and Erza know when they return where you've gone," he said. Evangeline nodded again before standing.

"Is that all?" Evangeline asked. Master sighed.

"Ivan is up to something. I'm having your parents investigate him. I thought you'd like to know," he said. Evangeline frowned. She knew Ivan did terrible things, but she was surprised that it was to the point where his own father was investigating him for his crimes.

"Thank you for letting me know. Take care of Natsu. Aspen said he'd need it," she said. Master frowned but passed it off as the old demon just knowing more about everything. He knew better than to ask questions by now.

* * *

Hargeon was busy. It was a port town, after all. Thankfully, the month of her contract went by smoothly. It was interesting to use her magic on thousands of people at a time. The first several times she was getting exhausted quickly, but she regenerated her magic fast enough to do it every other day. Now, she was able to hold up constant control over other's emotions for several hours at a time. More than once she had to do it while taking out possible disruptors. She took it as she basically got a month of intense training with her magic container.

That being said, Evangeline was eager to get home. She wanted to know if Laxus had gotten back. She had a bad feeling about his trip with his father. She told him she didn't want him to go, but Laxus didn't listen. He didn't understand why she didn't like his father. Evangeline also wanted to see the younger kids, who she had budded her ducklings, again.

The train ride back to Magnolia was much longer than Evangeline would have liked. She just wanted to get home. About an hour into the ride, she put on her sound pods and listened to a song she had recorded with a band after a concert. They had needed an emergency singer, and since Evangeline could sing, and also knew all the bands songs, she was roped into it. The band loved her and let her record a cover with her vocals for one of their songs. She, of course, chose to cover Don't Let Me Down.

She kept her sound pods out and listened to one of her playlists for the next few hours until she finally reached Magnolia station. She all put ran from the station to the guild.

"Ev, you're back," Cana said, spotting her as she came in. She, Gray, and Erza all bolted over to her to tackle her.

"Why do you always have to take long jobs," Gray said. Evangeline laughed.

"Well I got to record a song this time, so there's that," Evangeline said. All three kids looked at her with wide eyes.

"No way! Ev, that's so cool," Cana said. The older members of the guild had started to father around as well to listen in.

"You can sing?" Erza asked, surprised. Evangeline nodded.

"I don't sing much at the guild, but I don't stop at home," Evangeline explained.

"It's true. I have to freeze her to make her shut up sometimes," Gray said. Erza smacked the back on his head.

"It's rude to freeze someone who has a talent, Gray," she said. Evangeline laughed.

"It's okay. He's gotten used to it now," she said. Gray shook his head.

"Don't listen to her. She's obnoxious. At least she's good," he said. Cana laughed.

"Sing for us, Ev," Cana said while she flashed her puppy dog eyes. Gray and Erza copied their brunette friend, and Evangeline had to give in.

"Oh, Fine, I'll sing. What do you want me to sing?" Evangeline asked, mostly directing her question at Gray.

"The one you always sing at the piano," Gray said. Evangeline nodded.

"That would be Hallelujah, then," Evangeline said. "Now if you three get off of me I can do this." All three kids detached themselves from the older girl and watched as she went to the piano on the stage.

_Well I've heard there was a secret chord_

_That David played and it pleased the Lord_

_But you don't really care for music, do you?_

_Well it goes like this:_

_The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift_

_The baffled king composing Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Well your faith was strong but you neede__d proof_

_You saw her bathing on the roof_

_Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew ya_

_She tied you to the kitchen chair_

_And she broke your throne and she cut your hair_

_And from you lips she drew the Hallelujah_

The guild hall was silent except for Evangeline. Everyone was enchanted by her voice.

_Hallelujah _

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_But baby I've been here before_

_I've seen this room and I've walked this floor_

_You know, I used to live alone before I knew ya_

_And I've seen your flag on the marble arch_

_And love is not a victory march_

_It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah_

Erza felt tears leaking out of her real eye. She hadn't ever heard music in person like this. She looked over to Gray and Cana and saw both of them staring at Evangeline with their eyes wide open. Natsu, the boy who had joined just a month ago, was also staring at the blue haired teen on stage. He felt chilled. He never felt chilled.

_Hallelujah _

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Well there was a time you let me know_

_What's really going on below_

_But now you never show that to me do ya_

_But remember when I moved in you _

_And the holy dove was moving too_

_And every breath we drew was Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Maybe there's a God above_

_But all I've ever learned from love_

_Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya_

_And it's not a cry you can hear at night_

_It's not somebody who's seen the light_

_It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

Evangeline finished her song and looked out to the crowd of mages who were now staring at her. She was surprised to see so many members with tears in their eyes. She didn't even need to feel for their emotions to know what they felt. It showed on their faces. Someone in the crowd started clapping and then the sound of applause filled the guild hall. It died down a few moments later.

Evangeline was mobbed after she got off stage by people asking her when she started singing and the like. Thankfully, she was able to escape after a few minutes. She was glad she had finally gotten over her minor stage fright during her job, otherwise she would never have done that on stage in front of all her guild mates.

Evangeline was still upset because Laxus wasn't home yet. She was worried about him. She also wanted her parents to come home because she had had a few more visions about minor things, as well as more fleshed-out details about the Phantom Lord attack in the future. But, alas, they were still gone, and probably would be for several more weeks or months.

Evangeline decided that she was going to try and talk to Natsu, their new dragon slayer. He was the second, but only she and Laxus knew that.

"Natsu?" she asked the kid as she walked over to him.

"How did you do that?" Natsu asked. He looked confused.

"Do what?" she asked, confused as well.

"I got cold while you were singing," Natsu said. "I never get cold."

"Hmm, I think that's your body saying that you liked the music. I get chills listening to my favorite songs. It's not bad," Evangeline explained. Natsu nodded.

"Okay," he said before starting to wander over to the request board. Evangeline followed him.

"What kind of job are you planning on taking? I'll go with you on one here in Magnolia, if you'd like. I've done so with all the kids now," Evangeline said. Natsu grabbed one off the board.

"This one," he said as he gave it to her.

"Natsu," Evangeline deadpanned. "This is an A-Class job. Not for someone your age. You will only be allowed out on these jobs with me or Laxus, or at least the whole group of younger kids."

"Damn, I thought it was in Magnolia," Natsu said. Evangeline paused for a second before realizing what was going on.

"Natsu, you can't read, can you?"

* * *

Over the course of the next month, Evangeline drilled reading and writing into Natsu's head. She was making him read simple books and whenever he understood those, she moved him up to longer ones.

"I want to go do magic now," Natsu whined, again.

"Natsu, knowing how to read and write is just as important as practicing magic. You can't take jobs until you are able to read every job on the board and explain to me what they are for in your own words," Evangeline sighed. "We've been over this."

"But Gray gets to go do fun things," Natsu complained. Evangeline was getting annoyed and started letting out some of her lightning magic, so she started sparking. Natsu shut up right away. "Okay, reading, right. Reading fun."

"You are making a lot of improvement, Natsu. The rest of us have had a long time to learn about reading and writing. Just wait until I make you learn math," Evangeline said. Natsu paled, then started reading his book intently. Gray had complained about math, and Natsu knew he would hate it. He was hoping that Evangeline wouldn't make him learn math if he did well with reading and writing.

A few weeks later, and still no word from Laxus or her parents, Evangeline decided she was going to give Natsu his final test. She just wanted to go on a job again. She didn't care if she had to drag the entire Team Next Gen with her.

"Natsu. See if you can read all the jobs on the board. If you can, I'll take you and Team Next Gen on a job, and you'll be able to officially join them," Evangeline said walking with said dragon slayer over to the request board.

It took about forty minutes for Natsu to read and summarize each request, but he passed his test. Evangeline grabbed a job for Clover Town to take out some bandits that were targeting traveling merchants.

"Gray, Cana, Erza, you three ready to go?" Evangeline shouted as she got the job approved. She had her eye on it the day before and had told the three of them they were going on a job the next day.

"Yeah, Ev," they responded in unison.

"Natsu, you are coming. Let's go, we have to catch the next train that leaves in 40 minutes. We might as well head that way now," Evangeline said as she walked out of the guild with all four of her ducklings in tow.

"Ev, what are the rules for this job?" Erza asked.

"Listen to what I say. I don't want anyone to get injured. Natsu, try not to burn everything down. I'd like to get the reward money," Evangeline said. Natsu sighed.

"That's no fun, though," he complained. Gray smacked Natsu in the head.

"We listen to what Ev tells us to do on this team. You don't want to make her mad, or else there will be trouble," Gray said. "Last time I destroyed something, Ev zapped me so hard that I was unconscious for a week." At this, Natsu paled again.

"Oh, hush, this will be fun," Evangeline said as they arrived at the train station. She presented her card to one of the ticket sales people, who then frowned.

"You are the only one outside the Heartfilia family to have one, Miss. I assume you have heard of Lady Heartfilia's passing?" the woman said sadly. Evangeline felt her eyes widen.

"I haven't, actually. Thank you for letting me know. I will pass my condolences on to her family," Evangeline said softly to the woman. The ticket woman nodded and gave her the tickets.

"Come on kiddos, to Clover Town we go," Evangeline said, her voice sounding a bit sad. Unfortunately, Evangeline learned that Natsu had terrible motion sickness. She had thought Laxus's was bad, but no. His was nothing compared to Natsu's. Erza ended up knocking Natsu out so he wouldn't get sick all over their compartment.

The job itself was straightforward, until a stronger bandit showed up again. Evangeline didn't hesitate to let Aspen take over to dispose of the bandit. The problem came when Evangeline couldn't regain control, and Aspen couldn't pass control back to her.

"Uh, kiddos, I think we've got a problem," Aspen said. Gray blinked at the demon.

"Can you not switch back or something? It's been an hour," Gray said. Aspen shook her head.

"I can't find Evangeline. She's lost somewhere," Aspen said. Gray's eyes widened.

"What do we do?" Gray asked, stripping accidentally because of stress.

"We gotta get to Porlyusica. She'll be the only one that will know what to do since Evangeline's parents are gone right now," Cana said. Erza nodded in agreement. Natsu was confused as to who Aspen was and why Evangeline looked different.

"Uh, guys, I don't understand. Who is Aspen?" Natsu asked. Aspen looked over to him.

"Oh, they didn't explain. I'm the demon sealed inside of Evangeline. We are on good terms, don't worry. I actually like her so I protect you guys whenever she feels like she might need a little more help," Aspen said. "Evangeline lets me take control over her body in those situations, thus why the appearance change. Usually I can give control back to her right away, but I can't right now. She's lost in our mind scape right now. This hasn't happened before in any of my hosts."

"Igneel said something about a demon that was sealed inside of people… Are you the same demon?" Nastu asked. Aspen nodded.

"I remember your dragon. He was interesting, that's for sure. You remind me a lot of him. And before you ask, no, I haven't seen him recently," Aspen said. Natsu was about to get excited since someone else knew Igneel, but Erza knocked him out.

"Erza, you'll give him brain damage," Cana sighed. Erza shook her head.

"He has a hard head. He'll be fine. I will carry him to the train. The faster we get back to Magnolia, the faster we can get Evangeline back," Erza said. Cana and Gray both nodded.

"We have to get our reward first," Aspen said. Erza furrowed her brows.

"Can you go back on the train while we collect the reward? We can get back on our own. We will just make sure Natsu doesn't get into trouble," Erza said.

"I think that's a better idea, Aspen. I'm worried," Cana said, dropping her head. Aspen walked over and put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"It'll be alright, Cana. I'll let you three take care of Natsu so I can get Evangeline back to you," the demon said. The three conscious kids nodded, and Aspen set off for the train station. Thankfully, there was a train just boarding and she would make it back to Magnolia within a few hours.

When Aspen arrived back in Magnolia, she set off right to Porlyusica's house in the woods. It took her a while to get there, and it had now been almost 5 hours since she had taken over. Even the old demon was starting to get anxious. This never happened to any of her other hosts, that much was true. She had also never had a host like Evangeline.

"Yo," Aspen said to Porlyusica when she walked into the old woman's home.

"What do you want, demon?" Porlyusica asked her, annoyance evident in her voice.

"I can't find Evangeline," Aspen said shortly. The old woman turned to Aspen with wide eyes.

"What do you mean you can't find her?" she asked. "And how long have you been in control?"

"I mean I can't find her within our shared mind. That's where she always is when I take control. Just beneath the surface. But she's not there. And I've had control for just about 5 hours now," Aspen said. Porlyusica sighed.

"That's excessive. On the bed, now," Porlyusica said as she milled around her home getting different potions. "Let's figure out where our Evangeline went."

It took another hour for Aspen to find Evangeline. When Evangeline finally reappeared, Porlyusica sighed in relief.

"You sure know how to worry old people, you know that, brat?" she said. Evangeline just looked down at her hands.

"What happened? I don't remember anything, which isn't normal. Are the kids okay?" Evangeline said. Porlyusica stared at her.

"None of Aspen's memory went to you? This is not a situation I like," she muttered. "Aspen took over to take out someone because you wanted to make sure the kids were safe. Then, six hours later, she finally found you in your mind and was able to pull you back to being in control. The kids are on their way back now."

Evangeline furrowed her brows.

"That doesn't make any sense. I always get memories from her, and I've never been lost in my own head," Evangeline said.

"I think we might need to seal off Aspen's powers for a while, Evangeline. Your body has a lot of her demon energy leftover. It builds up over time, and since you are still growing, you need to get that energy out of you. Otherwise, this will keep happening until Aspen can no longer find you at all," Porlyusica said. Aspen sent a tug on her seal to show her agreement with the old woman. Evangeline felt her shoulders drop.

"How long?" Evangeline asked.

"For as many years as we can get. I have a magic dampening earring, Aspen told me how to make it. Wear this all the time until you are ready to let Aspen take over your body again. Only use her power in emergency situations, and under no circumstances are you to remove that earring for at least five years," Porlyusica said as she gave Evangeline the earring. Evangeline held it up in her hand before putting it down on the blanket of the bed to take out her right earring she already wore. She sent a quick goodbye to Aspen, knowing she had to put the earring on before they could have a longer conversation. As soon as she put the earring in, she didn't feel Aspen's seal anymore. She was still pulled into darkness, however.

Evangeline was watching her parents fighting an army of dark mages. It was a dark guild called Reaper's Blade, one of the various dark guilds her parents had been investigating for the previous few years. She watched as they fought against them. She saw them get injured before the vision stopped.

"Evangeline, what was that," Porlyusica asked, seeing and feeling the magic that was leaking from Evangeline during her vision.

"I gotta go, Mom and Dad are in trouble," Evangeline said as she got up and ran outside before she imagined the place her parents were fighting and sent herself there through her lightning.

* * *

She arrived in the forest right where she had seen the battle take place. She felt that there were a lot of people nearby from the number of emotions coming off of different people. Unfortunately, lightning is a very flashy and loud way to travel.

"Evangeline, what are you doing where," a thought popped up in her mind. Well, that confirmed her parents were here. She thought about the vision she had.

"Evangeline, you being here changes it," another thought said in her mind. What do you mean, she thought back.

"You weren't here in the first one. Who knows what will happen now," another thought said. Evangeline's eyes widened. What do we do now, she thought.

"We have to fight. They were coming to us anyway, but now they know our exact location. We lost the advantage of stealth. Come to 4 o'clock, 60 meters from where you are. We should meet before the battle," the last thought said. Evangeline rushed to the spot her parents had put in her head. At least they could have silent conversations in their heads.

"What you've done is dangerous, Evangeline. We are S-Class mages contracted under the council. We know these mages, and they are powerful. We were hoping to hold out for help from Gildarts. I don't think he'll get here in time, though," another thought entered her mind as she got to her parents. Her head dropped. I'm sorry, I saw it and I didn't think. I was stuck, lost in my mind for six hours while Aspen was in control, she thought.

"Dammit, and her power is sealed now. Evangeline, you need to get out of here," another thought said. No, I have to stay and fight, she thought.

Then the enemy mages were on them. Evangeline released a massive wave of magic over them to dull any emotion that would help them in battle. She didn't even both to do it delicately. She hit them with her magic with the force of a speeding train. She tried to force the weakest into a sense of despair, which she succeeded for a few.

Her parents got to work trying to get the weakest ones she had pointed out to fight against one another as a distraction. While their puppets got to work, they were all forced to enter regular combat.

The battle was brutal. Evangeline had her magic nullifying sword and was cutting through spells and bodies left and right. If she stopped her flurry of attacks, she would go down. She knew it. Her parents were also fighting to the best of their abilities. Her father used sticky smoke that would get trapped in the lungs of any enemy that breathed it in. Her mother used her poison darts to paralyze anyone who came near.

After taking out most of the force, she felt her parents' confidence level rise. Evangeline was about to let her own confidence rise, but then she felt a powerful mage nearby. It wasn't Gildarts. She knew his magic from spending so much time with him. This person was an enemy. And her and her parents were basically out of magic.

"Evangeline, run sweetie. You've done enough, now go. We need you to live," a thought said in her mind. No, she thought back. We can fight him together. You said Gildarts was coming. We just need to hold out for him.

It was too late for her to run, anyway. The mage arrived on the battlefield. It was a large man wearing a tattered gray cape. His magic pressure was almost suffocating.

"Breathe, Evangeline," another thought said. Evangeline took a deep breath and got a hold of herself. At least, she thought she did. She wasn't prepared for what happened next.

The man sent two beams of black magic towards her parents. Her mother got hit through the shoulder and her father got hit in the stomach. She felt their magic start to dim. That's when Evangeline snapped. Her magic gathered around her in a swirling cloud of black and lightning.

"So, this is your demon brat, Hastings," the man said as he turned his gaze to her. "This will be fun to take you out too. I'll try and make sure your parents live long enough to see you die."

Evangeline's magic kept swirling, the cloud getting larger around her. The sky got dark with storm clouds.

"Oh, scary, storm clouds," the man mocked. "Is that really all you can do, brat? I wanted to play with you a bit before killing you. I don't think you'll stand up to it. Maybe I'll just end your parents first to give you a bit more motivation." Without any hesitation, he sent dark beams through her parents' chests.

"Live, Evangeline," was the last thought that entered her mind.

Lightning started striking all around the forest, hitting trees and corpses.

"You'll pay," Evangeline whispered in a deadly tone. Her eyes turned red. She took a step towards the man, and rocks started to lift off the ground first. Then larger sticks. Then bodies started to lift off the ground and swirl around her.

"You'll pay," she screamed, sending a bolt of lightning lose at the man. Some of the swirling dark energy around her followed the bolt, as did various other floating objects.

"Oh, here's the demon I wanted to fight," the man said, laughing. "This will be so much fun."

"What demon? My demon isn't needed to kill scum like you," Evangeline said dangerously low. Her lightning was changing color from yellow to blood red, just like the spell she and Laxus had created for their unison raid. The lightning striking from the sky also turned blood red.

Gildarts noticed the clouds forming, then the lightning. He felt a massive amount of magic coming from the center of the clouds, and also felt Evangeline's magic as well. He had a bad feeling he was too late, and something terrible had already happened. He started running as fast as he could to try and save Evangeline. Little did he know the massive magic mostly just Evangeline but mixed with the residual demon energy from Aspen's six-hour control over her body.

"No use lying to me, little girl," the man said. He sent a black beam towards her. Evangeline raised a hand and caught the magic, forming it into a dark orb in her hand. The man's eyes widened.

"How did you catch the demon's ray," he said. Evangeline let out a dark laugh.

"Never mess with a demon host," Evangeline said as she raised her hand to the sky and released the dark magic. "You killed my parents. Prepare for punishment."

"Demon's Curse: Dark Ray of Unholy Magic," the man shouted, throwing more powerful magic at her. Evangeline brought one of the various corpses in front of her and let the spell destroy it.

"You will pay," Evangeline said again as she held her arms up to the sky. The lightning started collecting in a ball over her head. "Hear me, Oh heralds of the heavens. Grant me the power to rid this place of taint. Let blood run red as your holy lightning. Bend and break the bodies of my enemies. Vanquish them from my earthly plain. Lightning's Heavenly Herald's Purgatory Ray."

The red ball of lightning shot towards the man. His screams echoed throughout the forest, and every town for nearly 50 miles heard the boom from the lightning she had released.

Gildarts had thankfully entered the newly made clearing on Evangeline's side. He watched as she gathered the blood-red lightning in her hands and sent it to the man who had, presumably, killed her parents. The man was being turned to ash gradually as Evangeline's attack ate its way across his body. The man screamed until his body had turned completely to ash.

The storm above Evangeline dissipated as did the swirling black could of energy around her. The corpses of the dark guild returned to the ground. Then, Evangeline collapsed. Gildarts left the tree line to check if the teen was even still alive, and to his relief she was. He surveyed the destruction that she had left. Various body parts were strewn across the area. There were only two bodies that weren't affected. As Gildarts walked closer, he realized they were the bodies of Evangeline's parents. He sighed. He had lost two more friends. Thus, was the life of a mage. He walked back over to Evangeline's unconscious form and picked her up. He knew the rune knights would come due to the sheer amount of damage that had occurred, and they would send the bodies of the Hastings back to Fairy Tail for a proper burial.

Laxus was back at the guild when he heard a massive crack of lightning. He'd had no idea what it could have been, either. So he waited. He was only waiting for three hours before he learned what had caused it.

Gildarts walked into the guild hall with a sorrowful look on his face and Evangeline in his arms. The guild went from noisy to silent in a matter of seconds. Laxus watched as the older man carried Evangeline further into the guild and towards the infirmary. Everyone stayed silent. A few minutes later, Gildarts came back into the main part of the guild hall and sat at the bar.

"Emilia and Luke are dead," he said, his voice low. The guild's collective mood become dark. Gray spoke up quietly.

"Is Evangeline…" he trailed off. No one wanted to ask.

"She's alive. She used up all her magic killing the man who killed her parents," Gildarts said. "Now someone get me a beer so I can explain what the fuck happened, at least from my knowledge."

A few minutes later, Gildarts had chugged several pints of beer to the point where he felt he was able to talk about the day's events.

"Emilia and Luke were investigating various dark guilds for the past few years on a contract with the council. One of them being Reaper's Blade. This was one of more disgusting guilds they investigated. The leader, the man who kill them, had a sick fascination with human sacrifice. He was also a necrophiliac. His power level was comparable to mine, thus why those two contacted me for help taking them out. The council tasked them to wipe the whole guild out. There were over a hundred members. Emilia and Luke were S-Class, but they couldn't have done it on their own.

"Evangeline didn't know about their investigation. I have no idea how she got there. She probably made a huge difference in the fight for the first part of the battle. Then the guild master showed up. Sebastian Lowes." At this point, everyone gasped. They had heard of the cruel man before.

"He killed them for fun. He killed them before even going after Evangeline. I assume probably something to do with her demon. Then she snapped. She wasn't using Aspen's power. It was all her own. A massive storm formed above the forest and it started sending out random bolts of lightning. Evangeline had lightning crackling around herself as well. Not only that, but there was also a dark energy swirling around her. This started picking up everything left in the area, including the corpses of Reaper's Blade members. Then her lightning turned red. I've never heard her use the spell, but the incantation was very long. She channeled all the red lightning into that spell, and it started turning that man to ash. He was in agony until he finally disappeared, thankfully. Then she collapsed, and I brought her back here."

Laxus stood from his spot and went into the infirmary to be with Evangeline. He heard Gray stand and follow behind him. Laxus sat on the right ride of her bed, and Gray sat on the left. They knew she would need them both when she woke up.

"You okay, Gray?" Laxus asked the younger kid quietly. He shrugged.

"I'll be okay. I've been through this before. She hasn't," he said. Laxus sighed. Sometimes he forgot that they kid had already lost his family once, now he lost another one. But, thankfully, Evangeline was still alive. They both needed her more than anyone else in the world.

* * *

Evangeline was standing at the cemetery outside of Kardia Cathedral in an long black dress. The service had ended almost an hour ago, but she stayed at their graves. Laxus and Gray were at her sides the whole time. Natsu and Cana had wanted to stay, but Erza ands Gildarts had ushered them away. Evangeline needed her brother and her boyfriend. They would take care of her.

Evangeline was thinking about her vision.

"I shouldn't have interfered. They'd still be here," she murmured. She didn't cry. She'd cried enough.

"You don't know that, Ev," Laxus said. Evangeline shook her head.

"The Gods don't look favorably on those who try and alter the future," she said. "I saw a different future play out. I wasn't there. Gildarts arrived to take care of the strong mage, but my parents were injured. I wanted to help them. By doing so, I killed them." Thunder rumbled in the sky, and rain starting slowly falling on the trio.

Both boys remained silent. They knew she was right. You don't try and alter the future. It isn't the place of mortals to do so.

"Let's go home," Evangeline said a while later. Laxus grabbed one of her hands while Gray grabbed the other, and they made their way back to the Hastings house.

"She'll be fine," Gildarts told Makarov. The two had returned after making sure the other kids stayed at the guild. "She will be in pain for now, and probably push her magic to dangerous points, but we have to let her. They will keep her grounded."

"Agreed. She will sit out the S-Class trials this year. I was going to nominate her, but I think it's best if she stays here. I'd like it if Laxus went, but he is needed here," Makarov said.

"Do you think we should sell the house? Evangeline won't be making enough money to keep it, even with her inheritance," Gildarts asked. Makarov sighed.

"We'll let her keep the house a few more years. I'll pay for it in the meantime. I think taking that away from her would push her over the edge," Makarov said. Gildarts nodded.

"As I said, she'll be fine. Her parents spoke to her before they left. She told me so. They told her to live. That's exactly what she will do. Mourn, then continue living. Hell, I'm pretty sure that sure gave her parents the proper Fairy Tail sendoff before they died," Gildarts said, chuckling slightly.

"She sure is something," Makarov said. "Even without Aspen's power, she is fearsome, and in more ways than one."

"I wouldn't fight her. She'd wipe the floor with my ass," Gildarts said. "I'll look out for her too. Kid's like the daughter I never had. Her parents left me in charge of her as well. I intend on seeing that through for the next two years until she's an adult."

"You're a good man, Gildarts," Makarov said. Gildarts shook his head.

"I'm not. Luke was the definition of a good man. Think of all the people he's lifted up, put into a better place. I can only hope to one day be a good a man as he was. Thankfully, Evangeline is already taking after him. Again, she'll be fine," Gildarts said as he turned and walked away, leaving Makarov alone to think.

"How many more children will lose their parents in this guild? How many more parents will lose children?" he thought to himself. Then, he shook his head. "No matter. They will always have family in Fairy Tail."

**Okay, this chapter is done. Thanks for reading! **


	5. Present: Edolas

**Next chapter! I still don't own any songs! Also, sorry this took a while. Going through some hard shit right now so I've been not writing. Also, Edolas will be this chapter. It won't be the same as it was in the manga. Parts will be skipped, others may be shifted around, all depending on what I want to do!**

Evangeline sat at the bar, downing yet another vodka shot.

"Mira," she called at she held up her shot glass for another fill. Instead of filling the glass, Mira took it.

"Evangeline. You've had ten shots and its only 2pm. I'm cutting you off," Mira said. Evangeline sighed and rested her head on the bar top.

"Mira so mean," Evangeline said. Mira gave Evangeline a look.

"Ev, you gotta stop just coming to the guild to get drunk," Mira said. Evangeline shook her head, though it didn't work very well since she still had her face on the bar top.

"Gray took all my booze before he left. Need booze here," Evangeline said.

"Evangeline. Look at me," Mira said, her tone leaving no room for resistance. Evangeline picked her head up to look at her friend.

Mira slapped her. Hard. Everyone who was at the guild stopped talking and looked over at the two.

"Get yourself together, Evangeline. You are not someone who tries to forget her problems my drowning herself in alcohol. Stop hiding. Now go home and sort through your feelings and stop being a hypocrite," Mira said. Her voice echoed through the guild hall and everyone heard her loud and clear. Mira wanted to be the supportive friend, but that wasn't what Evangeline needed. Evangeline needed someone to push her right now.

Evangeline held her left cheek where Mira had slapped her and looked at her with wide eyes. She stayed silent for a moment before she blinked and dropped her head.

"Sorry, Mira," Evangeline mumbled. Mira put her hand on her shoulder.

"We love you, Evangeline. I'm sorry I had to do that, but someone needed to," Mira said. Evangeline nodded, then stood up.

"I might take a vacation for a while," Evangeline said. Mira nodded.

"That's a good idea. Just tell us where you're off to, okay?" Mira told her. Evangeline nodded to her before she left the guild.

Evangeline took to the streets of Magnolia with no real destination in mind. Her mind was still foggy from all her alcohol that morning. And the day before. She was dreading the hangover she'd have the next day.

She ended up outside Kardia Cathedral. It was currently having repairs done from the damage caused weeks ago from the Battle of Fairy Tail. She stood there for a few minutes staring at the building before walking towards the cemetery. It had been a long time since she visited her parents' graves.

She found the graves without really needing to think about it.

"Hey Mom. Dad," Evangeline said softly. "Sorry I haven't stopped by in a while. A lot has happened recently." Evangeline sat down on the ground.

"Remember how I told you that Laxus started changing after his father got expelled? He kept getting worse. Whatever darkness his father instilled in him before he was banished kept growing. The dragon's lacrima probably didn't help either. He didn't tell me about it. I could have helped him, but he didn't tell me. It kept getting worse until he actually attacked me. I've got a scar from that, now. I lost most of my magic for about a year. We got a divorce after. Then a few weeks ago, he made everyone in the guild fight each other. I was the only one who would be able to beat him aside from Gildarts, who is still on his 100-year mission. He'd completely lost control over himself. I fought him. A little bit into our fight, I heard something. I heard his thoughts. I finally learned your magic," she said.

"There's more, though. There were two voices in his head. The Laxus I married was still there. The darker version had taken control, though. My magic had come back and I was able to use light magic to get rid of that dark voice. We talked for a bit after that before he knocked me out. He told me he loved me still. That he always would. Then the next day, I woke up to find out that he was gone.

"He told me to find someone else because I deserved better. I don't want anyone else. I don't know what to do now, though. No one knows where he is. I miss him. Part of me feels the same way as I did after you two died. It feels like part of me is dead, except this time there's no one there to help me bring that part of me back," Evangeline finished. She felt better just getting the last few statements off her chest. She still loved Laxus. She never really stopped. Had she feared him, yes. But that didn't matter. She still loved him the whole time. And he had loved her too.

The wind picked up and blew two leaves past her. She closed her eyes. She remembered something her parents had told her when they realized she loved Laxus.

"Love is painful, Evangeline. You can feel lost and alone. Something your father told me when he proposed was 'I lost my way all the way to you and in you I found all the way back to me.' You will find yourselves in each other. Sometimes, love is shown in leaving. Love that is meant to be always finds its way back," her mother had told her. Evangeline hadn't known what she meant, but now she understood.

"Thanks, Mom. Dad. I feel better now," Evangeline whispered as she stood up and made her way out of the cemetery and decided to go back to her apartment. She paused, though. No, she decided she was going to go her home.

Evangeline didn't know that there was someone following her. He was watching her as she walked around Magnolia and then when she had gone to her parents' graves. He stayed in the trees to give her some sense of privacy. He made a promise to make sure she was okay, and he intended on keeping that promise. He watched her stand and leave the cemetery. She was walking to her apartment first, but then turned down a different street and took to the outskirts of town. He was confused as to why she was going there until he saw the large house on the horizon after half an hour of walking. He hadn't noticed that Evangeline stopped walking, and accidentally got too close.

"Gajeel, did Mira put you up to following me?" Evangeline said. Gajeel froze. She turned to face him. "It's okay. Sorry you heard my sob story."

"Not much of a sob story, Evangeline. You had something you needed to talk about," Gajeel said, embarrassed he had been caught.

"Yeah," Evangeline said softly. "Is it stupid that I feel a lot better now?"

"No," he said. "Not stupid. A bit weird to talk to dead people, but if it works it works." Evangeline laughed quietly.

"Thanks, Gajeel," she said. She started walking towards the house again and Gajeel followed.

"Whose house is this?" he asked.

"Mine," Evangeline said. Gajeel's jaw dropped.

"This mansion is your house?" he basically shouted. It was even more grand the closer they got.

"Mhmm. Laxus and I bought this three years ago. I wanted a house that reminded me of my parents' house, and this was the only one that made me feel like I was at home. It was way over our budget, but we took a lot of S-Class jobs and managed to save enough to buy it. I didn't want to take out a loan because I hate being in debt," Evangeline explained.

"Do I even want to ask how much this was," Gajeel thought out loud.

"70 million," Evangeline said. Gajeel paled.

"Holy fuck that's a lot," he said. "How?"

"Well, there's a lot of people who like to try and fight me because of Aspen. They want to kill me to get her sealed into whatever and then seal her into something else. I don't quite understand it because Aspen won't cooperate with the vast majority of people, so there's no reason to take her. But because of that, lots of dark mages come after me. Most of them have large bounties on their heads. Within Fairy Tail, collecting bounties is generally frowned upon, but I kind of have a free pass because they come after me anyway. Between the bounties, and both of us doing S-Class jobs, it didn't take too long. We were staying at my parents' home before and we ended up selling it eventually to pay off the loan on it," she said. Gajeel whistled.

"Damn," he said.

"Anyway, feel free to come in," Evangeline said as she got to the door. It didn't have a key because it unlocked to her magic. She entered and looked around. It was exactly how she remembered it. Gajeel followed quietly behind her. He stood in the foyer and let Evangeline have space to walk around her home.

Evangeline wandered into the living room and saw the photos on the wall of her wedding. There were also several other pictures of Evangeline with Laxus and also her family and the other kids at the guild back in the day. She went straight for the large picture of her and Laxus on their wedding day walking out of the cathedral. There was a table under it and on top of that, she found their rings. She had no idea how Laxus had gotten her diamond ring to put in on that table, but she assumed he probably had Freed get it. Beneath their rings was a letter. She gently moved their rings off the letter and carried it over to the couch to open.

_Evangeline,_

_After leaving my other letter with your necklace, I decided I needed to write something else. I didn't trust that Mira or Gramps wouldn't open that one. You deserve more._

_You might be wondering where I got your ring. Surprisingly, Gray agreed to get it for me just before I left. I had no idea that you still had it when I approached him about it, but I had hoped you'd saved it. _

_I'll start by saying I never wanted any of this to happen. I thought I'd be able to pull myself off the path I was heading down, but I wasn't able to. That's my fault. I didn't want to burden you with my problems, but in doing so I broke my vows to you. I also ended up hurting you. The day I did that was the worst day of my life. _

_Now, as for the rings. I broke my vow to you once, and I intend on never doing that again. You are too stubborn to actually do what I asked you to do, so here's the deal. I have no idea if I'll ever be allowed back. I shouldn't be, but something gives me a feeling I'll be back someday. Keep those rings with you, Ev. Keep them safe until I come back for you. That's my promise to you. _

_Wait for me to come home, love. I'll be back before you know it. _

Evangeline finished the letter and she set it down on the coffee table in front of her. She went back to the table with their rings and picked them up. She carried them up to their bedroom and found a silver chain that belonged to an old necklace of hers that she no longer wanted. She strung both rings onto the chain and put it on. They rested just over her heart. She then wandered into her closet and found the bag that held her wedding dress.

"You had better come back, idiot," she said as she touched the dress. She took a deep breath and then returned to the foyer. Gajeel was still there, leaning against a wall.

"Ready to go already?" he asked her. He had figured she would be there a while longer, but then he caught a glint of the rings on a necklace she wore.

"Yeah. I'll be back another day," Evangeline said as she opened the door and left the house. Gajeel followed after and made sure the door closed.

"The rings?" he asked, curious as to why she had them.

"A promise," was all she said. Gajeel made sure that she made it back to her apartment before going back to the guild.

* * *

"He left their rings for her?" Mira asked, blinking. Gajeel nodded.

"She said it was a promise," he told her.

"He intends on coming back for her," Master chimed in. "Evangeline wouldn't be able to move on from him. I think we all know that."

"Really?" Gajeel asked. Mira and Master nodded.

"They grew up together. Everyone just always assumed they would be together because they always were. If there are soulmates, those two would be the definition of it, really," Mira explained.

"We were all surprised they waited until they were 19 to get married," Master added while Mira nodded.

"While I was disappointed for a while, I think it's better they didn't have any kids yet. God forbid all this happened with kids in the mix," Mira sighed. "But, here's to the future!" Gajeel decided that this was a good time to escape. The guild hall doors opened to show Team Natsu with an extra kid with them.

"We're back!" Natsu shouted. Erza brought the new girl to the bar to get her guild stamp.

"Evangeline isn't here?" Erza said to Mira. Mira shook her head.

"I sent her away for now. She's been drunk at the bar for a few weeks while you've all been gone," Mira said. Erza sighed.

"I was worried that would happen. Where has she gone?" Erza asked. Gajeel re-entered the conversation.

"Mira sent me to follow her to make sure she was alright. She was pretty drunk. She went to visit her parents first then she seemed to change back to normal Evangeline. Then she went to her house, not the apartment," Gajeel said. Erza stared.

"She went to the house?" Erza said. She wasn't expecting Evangeline to go back yet, but Evangeline surprised everyone sometimes.

"Mhmm. She's back to normal now. She's got the light back in her eyes that's been gone for a long time," he said. "She went back to her apartment for now if you want to see her. Also, who's the kid?"

Erza then remembered that she was getting Wendy her guild stamp.

"Wendy Marvel," the girl said.

"She's a dragon slayer as well," Erza added. Gajeel narrowed his eyes.

"You dragon disappeared on July 7, 777 as well?" he asked. She nodded sadly.

"Well, that makes three of us, kid," Gajeel said. Wendy smiled. She wasn't alone.

"Wendy, I'm going to take the team to go see Evangeline. Would you like to meet her?" Erza asked the younger girl. Wendy nodded.

"It's not a good idea to invade someone's house who wanted to be alone," a white cat said as she floated up next to Wendy's head.

"Nonsense, Carla. Evangeline has a rule. If we need her, her door is always open for us, regardless of the time or circumstances. Our rule is that we will always be there if she needs us. Right now, I think she needs us," Erza said. The rest of Team Natsu, who had made their way over, nodded in agreement.

"Now, let's go. I gotta go see what my sister got herself into while we were gone," Gray said. He was eager to see her, especially after learning she turned into Cana 2.0.

Evangeline was sitting on her couch with hers and Laxus's rings in her hands when she heard a knock on her door.

She stood and went over to let whoever was there in. She was still holding the rings in one of her hands. She was surprised to see Team Natsu there.

"Oh, hey guys," she said, blinking. Her brain was still foggy from the alcohol. "Come in." Natsu and Happy quickly went over to her couch and crashed onto it, while the rest slowly trickled in. They had a new blue haired girl and a white cat with them.

"What's your name," she asked the girl with blue hair.

"Wendy Marvel," she replied. "Sorry to come meet you at your own home. They kind of dragged me." Evangeline laughed softly.

"They do that. It's perfectly fine, don't worry about it. Feel free to come visit whenever you need to. My door is always open for you," Evangeline said. Wendy looked at the rings in Evangeline's hand, specifically, the diamond ring.

"Woah, that's a pretty ring," Wendy said quietly. A small smile appeared on Evangeline's face.

"It's mine, thank you," she told the girl.

"So, you found it then," Gray said from behind her. Evangeline turned to him and nodded. Gray sighed.

"I went today. Mira slapped me to bring me back to my senses earlier this afternoon," Evangeline said. Gray blinked.

"She actually slapped you?" he said. Evangeline nodded. Gray sat down in one of her chairs at her dining table. "Huh."

"I needed it, though. You stole all my alcohol, so I was drunk at the guild. She told me to pick myself up and not hide my emotions away, and that I was being a hypocrite. So, I went to visit my parents and talked to them about the whole situation, then I remembered something that made me feel better. That's when I decided to go to the house, and I found the rings and the note. Also, where did you find it?" Evangeline said.

"It had fallen under your bed. Took me hours to find it, but I knew you still had it in this apartment somewhere," Gray said. Wendy had no idea what was going on but wasn't going to ask. But Carla decided to ask anyway.

"And why would you need to find an engagement ring? If she took it off obviously there's a reason. She shouldn't have it," Carla said. Surprisingly, it was Erza who spoke up.

"That was incredibly rude of you to say without knowing any of the situation at all, Carla. Please refrain from making such comments again," she said, her tone hard. Gray and Natsu glared at the cat. Carla felt scared.

"Let me explain. My husband, ex-husband, whatever to call him, I don't know at this point. There was a situation a few weeks ago that involved him pitting all the members of Fairy Tail against one another. That led to his expulsion. However, it's not entirely him that caused that battle. His father was a terrible man who sent Laxus down a dark path. He didn't want to involve me, which was a mistake. It ended up hurting us both," Evangeline said as she lifted her shirt to show the scar that Laxus had made on her skin. Everyone was silent.

"That being said, something dark took hold of him. He was, at one time, a very kind and caring person. Gray, Natsu, and Erza can attest to that. After his father was expelled, he changed. He was more power focused, just like his father had wanted him to be. He never showed this side around me, and I was usually able to calm him down. Until a year ago when I wasn't able to, and the darkness completely took over. That's why I have the scar. Until I faced him during the Battle of Fairy Tail, I had lost most of my magic. I regained it after I faced my fear of him, and I actually learned a magic that my parents had. That's how I learned that there was a war going on inside him, and the dark was winning. I destroyed that darkness.

"Now, by this point, we were already divorced. I never stopped loving him, though. He never stopped loving me. Sometimes, love makes us do stupid things like hide our burdens from one another. Sometimes we lose ourselves when we hide those things, and the only way to find ourselves again is to return to the ones we love. That's why I have these rings, now. He made me a promise that he would come back to me, and we'd find ourselves again," Evangeline finished. Erza wrapped her friend into a hug, then one by one Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Lucy joined in. Evangeline stuck out an arm to grab Wendy and bring her into the hug.

"This is how Fairy Tail works, Wendy. We do not suffer with our burdens alone. We let each other in. Now, I have shared some of my burdens with you, officially marking you as part of my family," Evangeline said as she held the girl closer. Wendy wrapped her arms around Evangeline and felt herself start to cry. Evangeline moved one of her hands to run it through the girl's hair. The members of Team Natsu separated from Evangeline to let her have her moment with Wendy.

"I'm sorry I started crying, I don't know why," Wendy said, her voice uneven. Evangeline held her closer.

"It's okay to cry, Wendy. You don't need to have a reason. All of us will always be here to hold you until you can dry your tears," Evangeline said. Wendy tightened her grip on Evangeline. Meanwhile, Carla was stunned. Happy seemed to notice this.

"Evangeline is special, Carla. She's able to read thoughts now, and she can see your memories and read your emotions. She's not doing that right now, though. She's just forming her own bond with Wendy, just like she's done for all of us," Happy said, smiling.

"She makes no sense," Carla retorted.

"I don't need to make sense, Carla. No one needs to as long as they know how to follow their heart," Evangeline said. "If you follow your heart, it will not lead you wrong."

"And forming bonds to people you don't know is you following your heart?" Carla asked.

"The bonds that withstand time and hardship are formed purely from the heart," Evangeline said. "We fight strongest when we are fighting with our hearts. That's what sets Fairy Tail mages apart from all others. Our hearts lead our battles, just as they lead our bonds." Carla was silent after that. Wendy looked up at the older woman and saw her smiling down at her. She couldn't tell what the glint in her eye was.

"What are you thinking about, Onee-san?" Wendy asked. Gray smiled at Wendy calling Evangeline her big sister.

"She's proud of you," Gray said. Wendy tilted her head to the side, confused.

"Proud of what?"

"I can read your memories, Wendy. I saw you fighting against Oracion Seis to protect your guild even though you were terrified. I saw you sharing your pain with your team. You may be young, but in many ways, you are quiet grown up. I look forward to watching you continue to grow," Evangeline said. Wendy smiled with teary eyes before she buried her face back into Evangeline's chest.

"Thank you, Onee-san."

* * *

"So, Wendy, you'd like to learn more offensive dragon slayer magic?" Evangeline asked the girl at the guild one day. Mira was watching the two from the corner of her eye. Wendy nodded.

"I'd like to be more helpful in battle," Wendy said. Evangeline looked her over.

"Come with me. You can roar already, yes?" Evangeline said as she stood up. Wendy stood as well and followed her.

"Yes, Onee-san," Wendy confirmed.

"Good. We will work on that first, since we will probably be able to make it stronger," Evangeline said. She stopped walking just outside the guild hall and grabbed Wendy's hand, then teleported them to the forest nearby.

"Woah," Wendy said as they appeared in the clearing. Evangeline giggled.

"Yeah, that's the reaction most people have the first time they travel by lightning," she said.

"I didn't know you could do that," Wendy said.

"Laxus taught me. He was a lightning mage before he got a hold on his slayer magic. I've adapted some of the techniques he taught me to make them suit myself more. Let's just hope you never have to see them," Evangeline said.

"Why, Onee-san?" Wendy asked. Evangeline sat on the ground and motioned for Wendy to do the same. She started recounting the battle where her parents died. Wendy stared at her wide eyed through the entire story.

"That's how destructive my magic can get. That's also why, in the event I ever see the future, I tell no one about it. I cannot interfere because the Gods don't appreciate someone trying to manipulate fate," Evangeline finished.

"I'm sorry, Onee-san," Wendy said as she looked down at her hands in her lap.

"There's no reason to be sorry, Wendy. We must grow and learn from our mistakes and learn from the mistakes of others so that we may better protect those that are around us," Evangeline said as she stood. "Now, let's get started with your roar."

Evangeline critiqued different parts of Wendy's roar, which the girl responded to. At the end of the day, Wendy's roar was about twice as big as it originally was. However, it was nowhere near as power as Evangeline would like for it to be.

Their training kept up for a few more weeks until Evangeline felt Aspen pull hard on her seal. Evangeline felt a huge vortex of foreign magic start to swell around Magnolia as she and Wendy were walking back to the guild.

"Anima," Aspens voice screamed at her. It was too late, though. This Anima was massive, and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. She felt herself get lifted off the ground, and then fell into darkness.

* * *

The next thing Evangeline knew, she was on the ground in the middle of nowhere. She sat up and held her head.

"Ugh, what the hell happened," she muttered before looking around. In front of her was Lucy, but it wasn't Lucy. "And who the hell are you, pseudo-Lucy?"

"Says the one who fell out of the sky," the Lucy retorted. "You just so happened to fall right in front of the guild, and if I didn't see the guild mark on your hand, I would have killed you already."

"Wait a second, let me think. I was in Magnolia, then an Anima opened right over the city," she thought aloud. The Lucy was before her right away.

"Anima? You were sucked through an Anima?" she said, placing her hands on Evangeline's shoulders. Evangeline nodded.

"Then you are from Earthland. You are in Edolas right now," Lucy said. Evangeline nodded.

"Mystogan told me of this place. There's limited magic here, thus why the Animas keep opening in Fiore. This time, though, they messed with the wrong town. They have Earthland Fairy Tail, please help me get them back home," Evangeline pleaded. Edo-Lucy sighed.

"I'll see what we can do. For now, just come inside the guild. Be prepared to get attacked by a few people, though. Our Evangeline… Well… She left a few months ago after she accidentally let our location slip. She felt horrible because it also led to Master's death," Edo-Lucy said. "Anyway, let's go. It's safer in the guild."

Evangeline followed Edo-Lucy into the building. She was quickly astounded by what people looked like and how they acted in Edolas as compared to how their Earthland counterparts acted. Gray was cold and dressed in layer, and constantly following Juvia. Juvia was blowing him off. Bisca and Alzack were all over each other. And, most surprising to her, was that Laxus was there sitting at a table. He looked up at her, then did a double take.

"Evangeline?" he said in disbelief. "I thought you'd never come home." Evangeline shook her head.

"I'm not your Evangeline, I'm sorry. I'm from Earthland," she said, smiling sadly at the Edolas counterpart of the man she loved. It broke her heart to see the hope shatter from his eyes.

"My apologies," he muttered as he turned away.

"It's alright," she said as she walked over to him. "As shocking as it is to see a version of me, I'm in a similar boat. My Laxus left me under similar circumstances."

"So, we've lost each other in both worlds, then," he said sadly.

"Only for now. Your Evangeline will return in time, I promise you that much," she said as she sat next to him.

"How do you know that? It's been months," Edo-Laxus said.

"My Laxus made me a promise on our rings that he would come back to me in time. We just now need to both be patient and wait for the ones we love to return to us," Evangeline said, gripping the rings around her neck.

"How are you so sure?" Edo-Laxus asked.

"Have faith in the ones you love, Laxus," Evangeline said as she stood and walked away from him.

Members of Edolas Fairy Tail watched the interaction curiously. They realized that Earthland Evangeline was a lot like Edolas Evangeline. Edo-Lucy snuck out of the guild. After Evangeline left the table Laxus was at, everyone returned to their regular life.

"So, Evangeline, what's magic like in Earthland," Edo-Juvia asked. Evangeline turned to face her.

"Magic is different for everyone in Earthland. People can use many different types of magic. We all contain magic within our own bodies that we channel into our spells," Evangeline started. More members of Edolas Fairy Tail started listening in. "For example, I use Lightning Magic, Mind Manipulation Magic, Emotional Manipulation Magic, Requip Magic, Obsidian Sealing, which is a Dark Magic, and also Light Magic. I channel my magic through magic seals that I create with my magic in order to cast spells according to whichever magic I want to use at that time. That doesn't include my mind magics, though. Those don't require a magic seal."

"Woah," various members of the guild said.

"There's more, too. There is also holder magic. The kind of magic I use is a caster magic. My Lucy uses holder magic. She channels her magic through celestial keys to summon spirits to fight with her. She needs to push her magic through the key itself in order to summon the spirit, thus why it's called holder since she needs to hold the key to push magic through it. Holder magic seems to be more similar to magic here, except here the magic is held within the item," Evangeline finished. Various people around her were nodding.

"So, rewind for a second here," Edo-Levy said. "You use both Light and Dark magic. Isn't that contradictory?"

"In a way, yes. Anyone can learn any type of magic in Earthland. However, I have a lot of help. I have a demon that I named Aspen sealed inside of me. How that came to be is a story in and of itself that I don't have time for. I'll summarize it to the Magic Council screwed up and I ended up the next demon container. However, Aspen liked me, and the Council is okay with me living. Should they attempt to remove Aspen from the seal, I would die. Because of Aspen, I have an affinity for Dark Magic. By myself, I have the affinity for Light Magic. Therefore, I can use both," Evangeline explained. Edo-Levy furrowed her brows then nodded.

"Sounds like hell, really," Edo-Levy said bluntly. Evangeline let out a soft laugh.

"It is, sometimes. But isn't everything hellish sometimes? Life sucks, we just have to continue living," Evangeline said. The guild got quiet. "We live on for those who are no longer with us, and we live on for those we don't know yet. You're all still here, even though you've lost many along the way. Keep going. Live on. Push through the pain that you are feeling and turn that into strength. That's what Fairy Tail does."

"She's right," Edo-Laxus said, surprising everyone. "That being said, you aren't our Evangeline. We need to figure out how to get you home." The doors to the guild burst open to show Lucy, Natsu, and Wendy. The Earthland Lucy, Natsu, and Wendy. The three looked at Evangeline, and the two slayers recognized her scent. They both went to her and crushed her in a hug.

"I'm so glad you aren't stuck in the lacrima, Onee-san," Wendy said, teary eyed. Evangeline narrowed her eyes.

"Wendy, what do you mean by lacrima?" Evangeline said, freeing herself from the grip of the slayers.

"There's a massive lacrima floating above the capital. It's everyone in Magnolia, including Fairy Tail," Natsu said quickly. Evangeline froze.

"This isn't good. This is bad, this is very, very bad," she muttered, and then turned and started pacing. Just then, an alarm sounded. All four Earthland wizards looked confused.

"The Fairy Hunter," several members said. Everyone from Edolas Fairy Tail started moving around, and Levy took her station at a massive computer.

"Prepare for the move, everyone," she said. "Hold on."

Evangeline did not follow after the other Earthland wizards and grab onto something. No, she was still frozen. Thankfully, Edo-Laxus grabbed her and pulled her close to him. The guild hall vanished from its old location and reappeared somewhere else.

"Evangeline?" he asked her once they had settled and stopped moving. She shook her head.

"Sorry, emotion overload," she said quietly. "Earthland Erza is opposite of Edolas Erza. Whereas your Erza is trying to kill everyone in Fairy Tail, my Erza would die to protect any of us. Caught me off guard, I'm not sure why." Edo-Laxus let go of her and shook his head.

"It's okay," he said before he stalked back to his table.

"Evangeline," Lucy called to her. Evangeline looked over to the blonde. "We have to get to the capital. There's a town nearby and we can go there." Evangeline nodded to her and walked towards her.

The Earthland group followed Edo-Lucy to the town, and they ended up fighting a group of royal knights. Edo-Lucy ended up disappearing, and the group were feeling pretty put out by this. Evangeline especially found herself annoyed, until she heard a car on the horizon. It pulled up next to the group, and the window rolled down.

"I heard you needed a ride," Edo-Natsu said. The group piled in, and after dropping them closer to the capital Natsu pulled his other self out of the car and they got into a fight. Or more like Earthland Natsu scared Edolas Natsu, which everyone pretty much saw coming. Eventually, Evangeline pulled her Natsu away from Edo-Natsu, who was a mess without his car. Edo-Natsu drove back to his guild and the group continued towards the capital. Happy and Carla ended up finding them then.

"Edo-Natsu said that we just continue this way and we'll get to the capital in no time. Just be patient," Evangeline said after Natsu complained they weren't there yet. The group arrived almost an hour later, and they snuck into the city after stealing some cloaks. Evangeline found the giant lacrima that her companions had referenced.

"Let's go towards the castle. That's where Anima is coming from, so we should be able to reverse it from there," Evangeline said.

"How do you know that's where it's coming from? And how do you seem to know a lot about this?" Lucy asked.

"Mystogan had asked for my help dealing with Anima in Earthland, but then I got sick. Be careful, the king is insane. I'll go check out the lacrima chunk that citizens are talking about," Evangeline said. Natsu and Wendy nodded.

"Also, how can you use your magic here, Evangeline? You didn't take one of the pills Mystogan had," Lucy said. Lucy was the only other one in the group able to use her magic.

"Aspen, I think," Evangeline said. Lucy nodded at this, then turned and started walking to the castle with Natsu and Wendy. Evangeline found the lacrima chunk, but also felt Gajeel there. He started attacking the lacrima, and in no time it shattered to show Gray and Erza. Evangeline rushed in and helped hold off the knights that arrived.

"This way, to the castle. Natsu and Wendy are this way," Evangeline said, but then stopped when she saw Lucy running her way.

"They were captured," Lucy shouted at her. "We need to break them out!"

"Who was there?" Evangeline asked her as Lucy finally reached the group. They had lost the knights for now.

"Erza Knightwalker. I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything," Lucy said, looking sad. Evangeline shook her head.

"Escaping and finding us was the right thing to do, Lucy. If you were captured we wouldn't know where they were," Evangleine said, comforting the younger woman.

"So, we gotta rescue flame brain and Wendy now?" Gray sighed. Erza smacked him upside the head.

"We will always rescue our friends, Gray. Stop complaining," Erza said firmly. Gray nodded, scared of the woman. Gajeel gave a pill to Gray and Erza.

"You'll be able to use your magic here," he explained after the two looked at him in question. They both swallowed their pills.

"To the castle to break out some dragon slayers?" Evangeline asked. The group nodded in unison.

They made their way to the castle and encountered Pantherlily and Erza Knightwalker. Gajeel decided to take on Pantherlily and Erza decided to fight her Edolas self. Evangeline and Lucy continued farther into the castle. Evangeline sent lightning at anyone that dared to try and come after them.

Eventually, Evangeline found them in the dungeons. She brought Lucy there and they found Natsu and Wendy. Wendy was tired and teary, and Natsu was unconscious.

"Wendy, what happened?" Evangeline asked.

"I'm sorry, Onee-san. They sucked out our magic and are using it to crash the lacrima into Extalia for everlasting magic," Wendy said, tears streaming down her face. Evangeline's eyes hardened.

"Not on my watch,' Evangleine said. She shocked Natsu, who then woke up.

"Oh, Evangeline," Natsu said as he bolted up.

"We have two cities to save, let's get going." Carla and Happy came back and brought their slayers up to Extalia. Lucy also found her way onto the floating island. Evangeline felt a pull to stay where she was.

* * *

The lacrima disappeared. Evangeline blinked.

"Evangeline," a voice said behind her.

"Mystogan, or should I say, Jellal," Evangeline said as she walked over to her friend.

"I sent the lacrima back through the Anima to Earthland. Now, we need to overthrow my father," the blue-haired man said.

"Ah, my son," an old man cackled behind them. "Do you really think you could overthrow me? When I had the promise of magic for everyone? It is our right to magic, and you took it away."

"No, Father. This place is not meant to have magic," Mystogan said. Evangeline focused her magic on the man. He ran away from them as she caught onto his thoughts. Her eyes widened.

"He has a dragon machine," Evangeline whispered. She felt the slayers land behind her.

"It's a good thing we have dragon slayers, then," Natsu said, his fists alight with fire. "I'm all fired up!"

"Good luck," Evangeline told them as she boosted their confidence.

Jellal and Evangeline left the castle and watched as the dragon machine left the city and the slayers followed. Evangeline locked onto a few familiar magic signatures around.

"Fairy Tail is here," Evangeline said. She left his side and ran to find them. They were fighting off the military, who were trying to stop anyone from getting close to the castle. Evangeline sent a massive wave of lightning towards some of them.

"Need some help?" she asked as she teleported through her lightning to the side of her comrades.

"It's about time you got here," Edo-Lucy said. Evangeline let out a laugh.

"Let's kick some corrupt government ass," Evangeline said as she tapped deeper into her magic.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Edo-Lucy smirked as they both went to work fighting again.

It didn't take long for most of the army to get beaten by the last wizard guild and Evangeline. Members of Edolas Fairy Tail were amazed at the power Evangeline was showing, and they knew that she wasn't even really trying. She didn't tap into her other magics. Evangeline felt the dragon machine go down and she smiled to herself. She felt the slayers returning from their fight. She had a thought come through Natsu that made her stop.

"Oh, Natsu, you are such an idiot," Evangeline muttered to herself. "Not you, Edolas Natsu, my Natsu."

"What is the dunce planning?" Edo-Lucy asked. Evangeline smirked.

"You'll see," she said as the spectacle started. Natsu pretended to be the Dragon King and fight Jellal while giving him a proper Fairy Tail sendoff. Jellal "beat" Natsu after the sendoff was complete, and Jellal reversed Anima again to pull all magic out of Edolas. All the Earthland mages started to glow, as did the Exceeds. Edo-Laxus came up next to her as she slowly lifted into the sky and grabbed her hand.

"Thank you," he said, smiling at her. She smiled back.

"She'll come back, just like Earthland you will come back to me. Wait for her. The best things in life are worth waiting for," Evangeline said as she let go of his hand. She started to float up into the sky, but before she got too far away, she added, "She loves you."

"He loves you too," Laxus said she Evangeline finally disappeared into the sky. He stared up at the sky where she had disappeared to. Someone came up behind him.

"Laxus?"

* * *

Evangeline opened her eyes and found herself in the forest she was in before she was sucked into Edolas. Her hands went to her neck and found her necklace with the rings on it still there. Her hands closed around the rings as she looked up at the sky. She smiled. She saw her Edolas self coming towards Edolas Laxus. They would be fine. They would be together. She just needed to wait her turn.

She figured Wendy must have been somewhere else in Magnolia when she left for Edolas, so Evangeline decided to go to the guild. She picked out a familiar magic signature and her eyes widened. She didn't know why she hadn't realized it before.

Lisanna was back. Lisanna was alive. The Edolas Lisanna was actually Earthland Lisanna.

Evangeline burst into the guild and locked onto the girl in question. Mira and Elfman had just let her go and Evangeline made a b-line for the girl. She wrapped her arms around the young woman and nearly crushed her with the force of her hug.

"I missed you so much, Lis," Evangeline whispered as tears trickled down her face. Lisanna hugged the older woman back.

"I missed you too, Evvie," Lisanna said, tears gathering in her eyes. They let each other go and looked at each other. Lisanna's eyes went to the rings around Evangeline's neck. She gently lifted the rings so she could look at them.

"We divorced, but it's a long story, Lis," Evangeline said. Lisanna looked confused.

"What?" Lisanna asked. Evangeline put a hand onto one of Lisanna's shoulder and brought her to table and sat her down.

"You know how Laxus was an ass to most people after his father was banished?" Lisanna nodded. "That's kind of when everything started. There was something dark growing in his mind, fighting for control over him. He didn't tell me. Eventually it got to the point where he lost control and he hurt me. That's when we divorced. I lost most of my magic at that time. A few weeks ago, before the Fantasia parade, Laxus sent us into he Battle of Fairy Tail. His dark side took over completely. I fought him. My magic came back, and I ended up figuring out how to read thoughts. That's how I found out about the darkness. I used light magic to get rid of it, and then we talked after. I was unconscious when he was banished, and I fell apart after that. I went to our old house and found our rings there, and also a promise that he'd come back. That's why I have the rings. It's his promise to me that he'd come back. Now I'm waiting for that day to come," Evangeline finished. Lisanna stared sadly at the rings still in her hand.

"He'll come back. I know he will," Lisanna said. "I'll poke him around once he gets back for making you sad." Everyone who was around the table, which was most of the guild, started laughing. Evangeline looked around the guild and saw who all was there. To her great surprise, Gildarts was there. He was looking right at her with a sad glint in his eyes. Evangeline left her spot at the table she was at to let Mira and Elfman glomp their sister again.

"Well, I can't say I saw that coming," Gildarts said as Evangeline sat down next to him at the bar. Evangeline sighed.

"It was a lot," she said. Her brought her hand around the rings again and held them up for her to look at.

"I remember before he proposed, he came to me to ask if he could," Gildarts said as he passed her a beer. Evangeline's eyes shot over to him.

"Really?" she said, blinking. Gildarts laughed, then nodded.

"Yep. He asked me if he could marry you. I told him it wasn't my place to say anything, but I did tell him your parents would approve," he said. Evangeline smiled. "Then he went to Gray and got frozen for a while before Gray decided it was okay." Evangeline laughed at this.

"I can't believe he did that," she whispered.

"He was scared you'd say no. I have no idea why he would think that, but when it came to you he never really thought things through logically," Gildarts sighed, taking a gulp of his beer. "That kid seriously thought you didn't want to be with him." Evangeline laughed and took a drink from her own beer.

"This is true. He's always been like that. He always wanted to protect me, even if I was always the one saving his ass until he finally broke away and started going on jobs with the Raijinshu after we got engaged," Evangeline sighed.

"I never understood why he started going with that group. They were good kids, don't get me wrong, but you two were always strongest together. I remember when you two went on the SS-Class job a few months after your promotion to take out the group of wyverns near the northern border and came back with not even a scratch," Gildarts laughed. Evangeline shook her head.

"Those were good times," she sighed. "I miss those days. Maybe I'll take an S-Class job and bring his team with me. It's been a while since we've all gone on a job together. Probably about two years now honestly." Gildarts nodded.

"Make sure they don't isolate themselves. I know they try to sometimes," he said as Evangeline stood up to go to the Raijinshju table. Evangeline raised a hand about shoulder high to let him know she heard him.

The Raijinshu were talking among themselves when Evangeline sat down at their table. They hadn't even noticed her coming their way.

"Miss Evangeline," Freed said, surprised to see her. "To what do we owe the honor of your presence with us?" Evangleine rolled her eyes.

"Freed. I am your friend. There is no need to use the formal tone with me. You did save my life, remember?" Evangeline said before taking a sip of her beer.

"Very well, Evangeline. You seem much happier now than you've been in a long time," he replied, noticing that her eyes had a spark of life back in them. She nodded. The group then noticed the rings on the chain around her neck. They all smiled to themselves. They knew Evangleine and Laxus did much better together.

"So that's why," Evergreen said before she wrapped her arms around her friend. Evergreen was sitting right next to get at the table.

"It's good to have you back, Evvie," Bickslow said as his babies repeated Evvie.

"Would you guys like to go on a job with me? I want to take an S-Class job again, and I trust you all. I also haven't gone on a job with you in years," Evangeline said. She saw Evergreen and Freed's eyes widen at her question.

"We'd love to, Ev," Evergreen said, hugging her again. The males at the table nodded to her.

"It'll be an honor to work with you again," Freed said.

"Nice to have you back, Boss Lady," Bickslow said. Evangeline smiled brightly.

"Great, I'll pick one out. We'll head out tomorrow at 10?"

* * *

Evangeline woke up a bit later than she intended, but thankfully she could teleport to the train station. She put on light wash skinny jeans and a long sleeve black top. She threw on her leather vest, previously a jacket before she had to take the sleeves off years ago and grabbed her bag and left her apartment. She didn't have time to eat cereal at home, so she would have to eat on the train. She teleported to the station and found Freed and Evergreen already there. Bickslow would be there at exactly 10, as always. Five minutes later, and exactly on time, Bickslow appeared and the group boarded the train and found a compartment.

"So, what's the job?" Evergreen asked.

"We are going to Rose Creek. A new dark guild had popped up and has started hijacking the trade route through that area. There have also been numerous disappearances and deaths reported," Evangeline said.

"How many members are in the dark guild?" Freed asked.

"At least thirty, from what I've found out. I have my channels for information, as you know. They have several stronger mages, at least A-Class. The stronger mages tend to wear red, apparently. They like to set themselves apart for a fear factor. There are two S-Class mages. Leave them to me," Evangeline said.

"Who are the S-Classes? They must have bounties," Bickslow said. Evangeline nodded.

"Evan and Dylan Rett. The twin crushers as they like to call themselves. They use magic similar to Gildarts. Given my experience training with Gildarts, I know how to counter crash magic," she said. Evergreen looked concerned.

"Those two have bounties of 5 million each on their heads. They are ruthless," Evergreen said. Evangeline looked to her and her eyes softened.

"Trust me, Ever. Remember, I'm stronger than Laxus," she said, winking. After another half hour spent strategizing, Evangeline left and went to the dining car to get something to eat. While she was gone, the Raijinshu proceeded to talk about their absent companion.

"She definitely seems herself again," Evergreen said after Evangeline left the compartment. Freed and Bickslow nodded.

"Hopefully Boss is doing alright," Bickslow muttered.

"Laxus will be fine. As long as Evangeline is happy, he will be happy. He knows she's waiting for him to return, and he will make sure he comes back to her," Freed said.

"Also, remember he told us to try and look after her if we could. This is our opportunity to do so," Evergreen added.

"How do you feel about her taking on the twins? I'm a bit worried, not that I should be," Freed asked.

"Boss Lady is strong. Her magic is back and more powerful than before, especially since she's been working with the tiny dragon. None of us stand a chance against those two, especially together. We weren't the ones to train with Gildarts for months. She knows everything about crash magic," Bickslow said, his tone more serious than usual.

"Of course I worry, but we'd worry about Laxus doing the same," Evergreen said. Freed sighed.

"You're right. I must believe in her strength," Freed muttered.

Evangeline re-entered the compartment oblivious to what her friends were speaking about. She never liked digging into other people's heads for information because it was a breach of trust. She took her seat next to Evergreen again, then requiped her sound pods and put them on to listen to music for the rest of the ride. It would be several hours until they arrived in Rose Creek. She ended up falling asleep.

Evergreen nudged Evangeline awake once they reached Rose Creek. The group went to the mayor's residence to get more information about the job, but Evangeline knew everything the mayor knew.

"We should do this sooner than later. Their guild is about three miles outside the south side of the city. They aren't expecting us right now, sot he faster we get to them the better. Is everyone ready?" Evangeline asked. The Raijinshu all nodded. "Good. Let's get going."

They stayed about a hundred yards away from the guild hidden in the trees. Evangeline felt out for the members of the dark guild. She felt the stronger magic signatures and noted what they felt like. She also felt the that the twins were there, but they were flaring their magic, as if using it. Feeling their emotions, she felt joy from them. She knew they were beating someone from that.

"More victims inside. The twins are beating someone. Ready?" The group broke and Evangeline manipulated the emotions of everyone in the area to be beneficial to her and her team. She blew the doors off the dark guild's hall with a blast of lightning.

"Let's play," Evangeline shouted over the chaos that unfolded before her. She quickly knocked out all of the weaker members to get them out of the way. The Raijinshu had locked onto their targets and separated them. That left Evangeline with the twins.

"Well, well," one of the twins said.

"I wondered when we would meet the Demon Goddess," the other finished. Evangeline raised an eyebrow.

"Demon Goddess. That's a new one. Sorry to disappoint, but the demon won't be joining us today," Evangeline said. "It's a shame the two of you chose this path. I have no mercy for those who kill for pleasure."

"Then let's dance," one said.

"Goddess."

The twins sent a crash attack towards her, but she easily dodged it. She planned on getting a gauge of where their power was. Right away she could tell they were nowhere near her or Gildarts's level. They sent another barrage of magic at her, only for her to dodge again.

"Stop dodging," they growled in unison.

"You know, it's kind of creepy that you two say things in unison and finish each other's sentences," Evangeline smirked. She felt them get riled up and heard them thinking about using All Crush at the same time. Evangeline's smirk turned into a smile, not that the twins noticed.

"All Crush," the twins called together, but were surprised when a black wall formed in front of Evangeline. The wall deflected the magic back towards its casters.

"How? That attack can't be reflected by regular magic," she heard one of the twins mutter. She really hated not knowing which was which by looking at them, but it wasn't important in that moment.

"That's because it isn't regular magic. That is called Obsidian Reflection. It can reflect any attack thrown at it, including nullifications magic. It's new. I hope you enjoyed the demo," Evangeline said as she lowered the wall. "Now, my friends have finished their fights with your other members. I'm getting bored. I thought you were S-Class wanted criminals, but I guess I was wrong."

That made the twins furious. They started throwing magic at her, causing dust to stir into the air. They couldn't see her, but kept attacking the spot she was in. Suddenly, the twins felt a massive sense of dread. They stopped attacking, and the dust cleared. Evangeline was standing behind them, and she had flared her magic power. The twins fell to their knees.

"How?" one of them asked. Evangeline dug into his mind and found out that this twin was Evan.

"How can you be so powerful?" Dylan, the other twin, gritted out.

"I fight for the sake of others, not my own. Now, I don't feel like handing you over to the Rune Knights as you are right now. You have tortured and kills thirty people. You strung them up out back of your guild hall after they were dead, and tortured your next victims in front of the bodies," Evangeline's body seemed to start glowing. However, it wasn't her light magic that was coursing through her. It was her dark magic. The Raijinshu recognized what she was about to do and fled.

"Fear not the darkness you soon see. The world will only become as dark to you as your soul's true colors. Rise, Servants of Lilith. Bring these souls forth for judgement," Evangeline said as shadowy humanoid figures crawl out of cracks that formed in the ground. They grab onto the twins and hold them still. Evangeline could hear them screaming but paid no mind.

"Burial of the Wicked."

The Raijinshu could hear gut-wrenching screams coming form the remains of the dark guild's building as Evangeline finished her spell. They watched her walk out of the building and continue towards them.

"Sorry you had to see that. They decided it was a good idea to broadcast their thoughts about how they killed everyone to me. So, I banished them to Hell for a few years. Their bodies will live until they awaken in a few years once they have been tortured long enough," Evangeline stated. The Rune Knights then showed up, led by none other than one of Evangeline's favorite council employees to annoy: Lahar. He noticed her and immediately let out a big sigh before he walked over to the group.

"What should I know before I send anyone in there," the main said. He knew how Evangeline worked in the past. Some of the things she had done were downright twisted sometimes, depending on how pissed whoever she was fighting at the time. She was the kindest person ever if she thought you savable, but if she deemed you unable to be saved, she withheld nothing.

"The twins will be catatonic for a few years. I decided to send their souls to Hell," Evangeline said, smirking. "Don't worry, there's no random body parts flung all over. If there are, it was the twins' doing." Lahar looked at her then shook his head.

"I do not get paid enough to deal with you," he muttered. Evangeline let out a loud laugh.

"Also, you owe us 10 million jewels," Evangeline added. Lahar fell over.

"God damn it all!"

* * *

Evangeline sat on the train back from Rose Creek looking out the window. The sun was setting, and her group wouldn't arrive back in Magnolia for several more hours. It didn't help that the days were getting shorter because winter was fast approaching. She looked around the compartment to see what everyone else was doing.

Freed was reading a book, as usual. Evergreen was looking at one of a stack of magazines she had brought. Bickslow was asleep. She relaxed, satisfied that everyone was alright. There was a reason she didn't like to go on harder jobs with people who didn't know her well. She could scare the shit out of them when she got serious. Or bored. Bored was mostly more dangerous than her being serious. She shook her head at the thought. She pitied anyone that claimed to be a good fight and ended up boring her. She felt Evergreen start to drift off next to her, and the next thing she knew, her friend was asleep just like Bickslow. That left herself and Freed awake. Freed seemed to be waiting for this.

"Why did you resort to using that?" he asked, not even looking up at her from his book.

"The way they killed. Also, they were supposed to be more of a fight, and I got bored," Evangeline answered honestly.

"Are you afraid of losing control of the dark magic?" Freed asked again. Evangeline felt doubt rolling off of him, but it seemed self-directed.

"No. I trust myself and my magic. All three of you should, too. There is no reason to fear your magic, Freed," Evangeline said. Freed tensed.

"But we have hurt others," Freed said, his voice lower. Pain seeped into his voice.

"We all have. Grow from that. Learn from it. Everyone has forgiven you, so you should forgive yourself," Evangeline told him. "Now, I think I'll get some shut eye for a while. Remember what I said, Freed. Forgive yourself." With that, Evangeline requipped her sound pods and went to sleep.

Freed mulled over what Evangeline had said for the rest of the trip. He woke the others when the train was arriving in Magnolia.

Evangeline teleported back to her apartment. She went inside and collapsed on her bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

**Okay, done! Next chapter will be a flashback, as usual. Thanks for reading!**


	6. Past: Love

**Okay, next chapter! This picks up right before S-Class trials the same year Evangeline's parents die. (December x777). **

_Still Year 4_

Evangeline was distant. Makarov had made the decision that she wouldn't take part in the S-Class trials that year because she wasn't mentally or emotionally stable enough to handle them. When he announced the participants, Laxus nodded at him after glancing at Evangeline. Laxus was worried about her. She was his world, and right now she was in a dark place. She was lost.

"Hey, Gramps, you sure I should participate this year? I think it might be best for me to stay back with Ev," Laxus said as he sat by his grandfather at the bar. Makarov looked at him oddly.

"You'd give up your spot in the S-Class trials to take care of her?" he said, eyes bugged out.

"Of course. It's not like I won't make it next year. She's more important than a title," Laxus said. Makarov then passed out. Laxus stared at his grandfather, not sure what was wrong with him.

"Just leave him and take your girl on vacation or something," someone said from behind him. He turned to see Gildarts walking up to him. Gildarts had an envelope in his hand and gave it to Laxus.

"What?" Laxus asked, still confused.

"Week long stay in the capital at the best hotel in the city, along with dinner and waterpark tickets," Gildarts said. Laxus blinked.

"How much was this?" Laxus knew that Crocus was expensive, especially the higher end hotels.

"I'm not telling," Gildarts said as he grabbed Laxus's shoulder and pushed him towards Evangeline's table. "Now go, you already said you weren't going to the trials this year. Go take her out. Make her smile again. It's been too long since she's been happy."

Laxus decided not to argue with the man who was like a second father to him (much better than his real father, as he would eventually decide) and went over to Evangeline. She watched him walk over to her.

"Trip to Crocus?" he asked her as she sat down across from her. She shrugged.

"Why not? I assume Gildarts gave you tickets and will all but force us to go. But still, aren't S-Class trials this week? You can't miss those for a trip," Evangeline said, concern evident in her voice.

"I told Gramps I wasn't going. You are more important than a promotion," he told her, heat rising in his face. Evangeline's face softened, and a bit of a spark came to her eyes.

"You're skipping trials for me?" she whispered.

"I'd skip it every year if I had to if it was for you," he said. Unbeknownst to both of them, the adults had crept close enough to the two teens to hear what they were saying. Makarov, who had woken up, passed out again, mumbling something about great-grand babies. Gildarts just had a sappy grin on his face. The teens were like his kids. He never had any, so he took care of them like his own.

Makarov woke up again a few seconds later.

"I can't wait until they finally get married," he said, watching the teens leave the guild hall to pack for their trip.

"Eww," Gray jumped into the conversation. Gildarts and Makarov laughed at the boy.

"You'll understand when you are older. Or maybe not. I've never seen anyone love someone else like they love each other. And they are still quite young. You live with both of them. Would you really like to see them break up?" Makarov said, raising an eyebrow at the boy. Gray sighed.

"It's what happens after they get married that's my problem," Gray muttered as he walked away. Everyone who was within earshot burst into laughter.

"Five thousand jewel says the kid is oblivious to what's already going on," Gildarts said to the group at the bar.

"Pssh, I'm not stupid enough to take that bet. It's obvious," Macao said, rolling his eyes.

"Now, now, let's make sure we don't let the kid know that happens outside of marriage. The last thing we need is that whole generation doing unspeakable things," Makarov said, shivering. "No underage parents!" To that, the group laughed again.

* * *

"Gildarts really went overboard," Evangeline deadpanned when she saw the hotel room. It was beyond huge. Laxus peered into the room and blinked.

"No wonder he wouldn't tell me how much he spent," Laxus muttered. "Damn old man."

"Do not damn the person who sent us on vacation. It's rude. And it's free," Evangeline rolled her eyes as she walked into the room. There was a large living space with a hot tub inside the room, as well as a balcony and another hot tub. Then, through a set of white French doors was the bedroom, complete with a king size four poster bed. Evangeline requipped their bags into the corner of the room before she flopped down onto the bed.

"Mmm, so soft," she whispered. Laxus leaned against the door frame to the bedroom.

"Don't get too comfortable. We have dinner in an hour," he said, walking to the bed to sit down.

"Do we have to," she whined.

"Ev, this place had a four month wait list," Laxus said. Evangeline shot up from the bed.

"You're kidding, right?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes at him. He shook his head. Evangeline quickly got off the bed and dug through her suitcase to get a dress for the night. She settled on a form-fitting black dress that ended halfway to her knee. She then brought the dress with her to the bathroom as she started the shower.

"Ev, you don't have time to shower," Laxus groaned at her. He knew how long she took in the shower.

"I won't take long, I promise," Evangeline shouted from the bathroom. Sure enough, ten minutes later the shower shut off. Evangeline came out another ten minutes after that with her dress on and her hair dry.

"Why can't you do that when we are getting ready to go to the guild?" Laxus sighed.

"Because. It's fun to annoy you. And the guild is the guild," she trailed off. Laxus stood up and walked over and wrapped his arms around her.

"It's still home, even though home has changed. We miss you, Ev. We miss you a lot," Laxus said into her hair. Evangeline wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I'm trying."

"We know. I think you miss yourself, too," Laxus said before he kissed the top of her head. "Now, enough of this, we have dinner and a damn good vacation this week." She nodded against his chest.

Within another five minutes, Evangeline had put on a diamond pendant necklace and matching diamond earrings, and the two left on their way to their dinner reservation.

"So, what is this place called?" Evangeline asked. Laxus hadn't told her.

"I guess I'll tell you since we are almost there," he started. "It's a little place called Seasons." Evangeline stopped walking.

"Seasons? Gildarts got us into SEASONS?" Evangeline couldn't believe it. She had wanted to go to the renowned steakhouse restaurant for months, but it was so damn expensive and there was such a long wait period that she decided against going.

"I knew you wanted to go and might have mentioned it to him, but that was a while ago," Laxus said as he turned to her and held out a hand to her. "Come on, no time to freak out now. We don't want to miss our reservation because we both know we wouldn't be able to get in for another four months at least." Evangeline took his hand and walked next to him. It wasn't long before they reached the restaurant.

The building was huge. It was an ultra-modern style, brand new building that was three stories tall. There was a massive blue-glass wave swirling around the front of the building. The couple couldn't believe their eyes when they saw it.

"I feel underdressed," Evangeline said, blinking in awe. Laxus just nodded beside her. It took them a few more moments before they snapped out of their awe-struck stupor. They approached the large doors with their reservation pass in hand.

The inside of the building was even more impressive. The entrance area of the restaurant had a massive fish tank that went up all three stories right behind the hostess desk. Blue glass tiles were scattered all over the floor, walls, and ceiling and reflected the low light in the restaurant beautifully. Dark wood lined the walls and ceiling, while the floors had dark stone tiles. Even though the inside was dark, it didn't feel closed off or feel dark. Laxus went forward with their reservation and pulled Evangeline with him, and they followed the hostess to their table. They were on the second floor right next to the fish tank.

A waiter came by with a bottle of champagne, which they could both only assume was god-awful expensive. He poured them each a glass, then left the bottle in a carved ice bucket.

"Yeah, I'm way underdressed for this place," Evangeline said as she stared at her champagne glass. Laxus laughed at her statement.

"I don't think we could fit in here if we tried. Look around," Laxus said as he looked out at the open room around him. Evangeline followed his gaze. He was right. The people there looked like they were from high society, and they certainly weren't teenage mages.

"True. I'm glad we got to go here, though," Evangeline said softly before taking a sip of her drink.

"Me too, Ev."

* * *

The food was amazing. They were just finishing up their dessert course when the owner stopped by their table. Evangeline felt like she couldn't breathe when he came to greet them.

"So, you two are the kids my dear old friend wanted to get in here so badly," the man said as he stepped up to their table. "Gildarts has also gone ahead and had my charge the meal to his account."

"It's an honor to meet you, Lord Beckett," Evangeline said, pulling herself out of the amazement she was feeling yet again. The man took her hand and kissed the back of it in greeting.

"It's an honor to meet you as well, Miss Hastings. I have heard many wonderful things from many powerful people," Lord Beckett said. He released her hand and turned to Laxus. "And Laxus Dreyar. I have heard much about your talents and look forward to seeing how you grow in the future. You know, Gildarts has never talked as much about anyone as he talks about the two of you."

Lord Beckett grabbed something out of his pocket, then gave one to each of the teens.

"Feel free to come by whenever you are in Crocus again. If you've managed to capture the attention of my old friend, you are very special. Enjoy your time in the city," he said before he left the speechless pair.

"Did we just get VIP access to the premier restaurant in Crocus?" Evangeline asked.

"I think we did," Laxus said, staring at the pass in his hand. It wasn't made of paper. It was a silver engraved token with SEASONS VIP and then his hand under it. He felt a small magic signature coming from it that must be a sort of authenticity seal. He finished his drink, as did Evangeline, and they left.

The young couple wandered around the city for a bit. It was almost 10pm, but they didn't want to go back to their hotel yet. The city was too beautiful at night.

Colorful lights crisscrossed the roads and lanterns hung from those. It was warm, even though it was winter. It should have been snowing, but the cold must have decided to hold off for a few more days. Evangeline felt like she could finally breathe again. She felt as if her soul was lighter. She stopped in the middle of a near-empty square with a sculpture in the middle of it. Laxus, who had wandered farther in front of her, backtracked to her side. He looked up at the statue she was looking at.

The statue was a child holding a teddy bear, looking towards a building with a sign that said "Orphanage." Evangeline slowly walked forward to the statue. It was on a foot-tall platform and was itself about three feet tall. She gently placed a hand on top of the child's head. She looked the same direction the statue child was looking, then closed her eyes. She rested her head on top of her hand that was on the statue. Laxus placed a hand on the small of her back and she looked up at him.

"Ev?" he asked. She smiled softly at him.

"I'm okay now," she said before kissing him softly. "Thank you."

* * *

The rest of the vacation went by quickly. Laxus knew she was okay by the light that had come back to her eyes after seeing the statue in the square their first night in the city. He hadn't realized how much he missed her light until now, but he knew he didn't have to miss it anymore. She was back. The light of his life was back. Right now, they were sitting on the train on the way back to Magnolia. Evangeline noticed Laxus was staring at her.

"What's wrong?" Evangeline asked him. He shook his head.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong," he said, smiling slightly. The train started slowing down and the two left the train and made their way to the guild hall, arm in arm.

"We're home," Evangeline shouted as they walked through the guild doors. She heard a jumbled mess of "Welcome back" and "Did you have a good time" from members of the guild. She laughed slightly as she shook her head at their antics.

"Evangeline! Fight me!" Natsu said as he ran up to her.

"Sure, let go," she replied. The guild went silent. "Let's take it outside so we don't destroy anything." She walked out with Natsu, and the guild was left dumbfounded.

"She's back," Gray said, staring at Laxus.

"She's back," Laxus confirmed. With that, Fairy Tail poured out of the guild hall to watch Evangeline demolish Natsu.

"The rules of this fight will be anything goes except for killing your opponent," Erza said in what Evangeline dubbed her "let's-get-down-to-business" tone. Evangeline and Natsu nodded to each other, then Natsu pounced.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist," Natsu called out as he came at Evangeline. She simply stepped to the side, and Natsu punched the ground.

"My turn, Natsu," Evangeline smirked. "Strike." A single, large bolt of lightning came from the sky, and Natsu was on the ground, twitching. The guild was laughing at Natsu's loss. They all knew he would lose. Evangeline and the rest of the guild left Natsu to wake up by himself and went back to the guild. She sat at a table with Laxus and Gray.

"What changed?" Gray asked, having not been there when Evangeline actually started to be herself again.

"I saw a statue of a child, all alone, staring at an orphanage. I guess it made me realize I'm not alone. I felt the emotions that the kids in the orphanage were feeling. There was some sadness and loneliness, but there was also hope and happiness. I guess it made me feel like I was validated, so I could move on," Evangeline explained. Laxus, who was sitting beside her, took her hand under the table and squeezed it a bit. She returned.

"We also have VIP passes from the owner of Seasons so we can go whenever we want," Laxus added. Gray glared at him.

"Asshole."

* * *

_Year 5_

Evangeline was upset, and she was upset for multiple reasons. Reason number 1: Laxus was upset. Reason number 2: Laxus was upset because of reason number 3. Reason number 3: Ivan is an abusive asshole that should have been expelled many years before. Reason number 4: Laxus was threatened to leave Fairy Tail and follow his father following his father's expulsion. Reason number 5: Laxus had taken a job with his new team and left her at the guild because he was mad at her. Evangeline sighed, and dropped her head against the bar.

"Men are idiots," she groaned. Alice, Macao's wife, who was heavily pregnant, laughed beside her.

"They are, but we love them anyways, dear," Alice said. Her voice was soft and sweet. She was a very gentle woman. Macao didn't deserve her. He was too much of a pervert for someone as kind and pure as Alice.

"Unfortunately," Evangeline sighed as she picked her head up from the bar.

"Now, why are you complaining about the stupidity of men, my dear?" Alice asked her. Alice didn't spend much time at the guild nowadays because it was dangerous for her to be near so many destructive teens.

"Laxus is mad at me because I said his father deserved to be expelled. And that Ivan should have been expelled long ago. And that Ivan was a terrible father. And now he has left on a weeks long job with that new team of his and they don't like me, and they don't want him to talk to me," Evangeline said, tears gathering in her eyes. "Dammit, why am I crying." Alice lifted a hand and started gently stroking Evangeline's hair.

"It's okay to cry because someone you love is being unfair. He knows that you are right, and he doesn't want to admit it, so he has surrounded himself with people that will tell him only what he wants to hear. He's having a rough time because even though his father is indeed a terrible person, Ivan is still is father. Give him time," Alice said softly. Evangeline let her tears go and cried, letting Alice mother her for a while. Even though she was 17, she still needed someone to be her mother sometimes now that hers was gone.

Evangeline felt someone sit down next to her. It was one of the new members, a group of siblings. This one was the youngest of the three.

"Evvie-chan, are you alright? Do you need some ice cream?" Little Lisanna asked her. Evangeline smiled and wiped her tears. Alice removed her hand from Evangeline's head and watched her.

"I'm alright, Lisanna. Boys are stupid, remember that," Evangeline told the girl. "I will go for some ice cream, though. What kind would you like?"

"Strawberry, please," Lisanna said, smiling at her. Evangeline got up and walked around to the other side of the bar. She pulled out some jewel and put it in the register for ice cream for both her and Lisanna. She scooped out some strawberry ice cream and gave it to Lisanna and then scooped some chocolate ice cream for herself. She went back to her seat next to Lisanna and sat next to the happy kid.

"Thank you, Evvie-chan," Lisanna exclaimed between bites of her ice cream.

"You're welcome, Lisanna. Also, where's your siblings?" Evangeline asked. She never saw Lisanna by herself because the Strauss siblings had only recently joined.

"Mira-nee and Elf-nii went on a job. They said I couldn't go yet because I didn't know enough magic. I'll be able to go on the next one, though!" Lisanna said, and Evangeline could tell the girl was determined.

"How long will they be gone?" Evangeline asked.

"A week," Lisanna sighed. "I miss them already."

"How about you stay with me and we practice magic?" Evangeline suggested. Lisanna's face lit up.

"Can I? Please, please, please, please!" Evangeline nodded.

"Of course. I've helped almost all the kids with magic or reading or something along those lines. It's only fair that I help you. I'll get to your older brother and sister eventually as well, but Mira doesn't really like me," Evangeline sighed at the last bit. Mirajane basically hated Evangeline. Evangeline left with Lisanna and the two made their way back to Evangeline's house.

"Do you know why Mira doesn't like me? She never told me," Evangeline asked the girl when they sat down in the living room. Lisanna was sitting next to her.

"I think Mira-nee likes your boyfriend," Lisanna said. Evangeline furrowed her brows.

"They haven't ever talked aside from the day you three joined though," Evangeline muttered, confused.

"I dunno, Mira-nee thinks he's hot," Lisanna said. Evangeline burst out laughing.

"He is, but he's mine and I don't intend on sharing," Evangeline said.

"Mira-nee isn't someone to give up," Lisanna said, concerned. Evangeline sighed.

"She will. She'll see eventually," Evangeline said. "Now, it's late. You can take the room across from mine upstairs." She went upstairs with Lisanna and made sure she found her room. Evangeline then went to her room and stared at her empty bed. She decided to take a shower before bed.

After her shower she braided her hair before sitting on her bed. She pulled her knees up to her chest and felt her eyes start to burn. Then she broke down. She sobbed and eventually fell back into her pillows and screamed into them. She let all her doubts bubble to the surface of her mind so she could cry them out. Maybe Laxus wasn't coming back to her. Maybe he was better off with Mira. Maybe she deserved to be alone. Eventually her sobs quieted to sniffles. That's when her lacrima went off. She wasn't thinking super clearly when she decided to pick it up without wiping her tears away first.

"Ev,I-" it was Laxus. He started speaking, then saw her face and stopped, then sighed. "Dammit, Ev, I'm sorry. Don't cry, love." She sniffled and wiped her tears from her eyes.

"I miss you. I'm sorry I made you mad," Evangeline whimpered. Laxus was now worried.

"You didn't make me mad, don't apologize. What's wrong?" Laxus asked her, wondering what happened that she was turning blame at herself. The door to Evangeline's room opened and a girl with short white hair came in and crawled into Evangeline's bed. Laxus remembered her as Lisanna. Then everything clicked. He didn't want to speak about it with Mirajane's sister around, though.

"Are you okay Evvie-chan?" Lisanna asked, worry on her face. "I don't want you to be sad." Evangeline patted the girl on the head.

"I'll be okay, Lisanna. Go back to bed. I'm sorry I woke you," Evangeline said. Lisanna frowned but left the room.

"Evangeline," Laxus said. He never used her full name unless it was serious. She kept her eyes focused on the wall behind her communication lacrima. "Evangeline. Look at me." She did. He sighed.

"I'll always come home to you. Only for you, do you understand? I'm sorry for what I said, and I'm sorry for making you doubt yourself. Unfortunately, we did take this job, so I'll be gone for a few weeks. I'll call you every night that I can, okay? Remember that you are my world, Evangeline. Without you, I'd be in a really dark place. Now sleep, love," he told her. She opened her mouth to apologize, but he gave her the "don't you dare apologize" look and she sighed.

"I love you," she whispered, a small smile forming on her face.

"I love you, too. Now sleep, you'll need it to deal with the little demon," Laxus said. Evangeline shook her head before hanging up. She clutched the lacrima to her chest as she fell asleep.

-With Laxus-

Laxus sighed. He knew he was an idiot, but he didn't think he'd actually hurt her that bad.

"Laxus-sama, who was that?" Freed Justine, one of his new team members, asked.

"Evangeline. I hurt her, so I had to apologize. I shouldn't have taken this damn job," he sighed.

"And why are you spending your time with her, still?" Evergreen said, rolling her eyes. Then, she suddenly felt cold. Scared.

"You will never talk ill of her, do you understand?" Laxus said, his voice low and dangerous. If looks could kill, Evergreen would be dead. She nodded quickly before scrambling into her tent. "The same goes for you two. Treat her like you'd treat me. If I ever find out that one of you three does or says something to hurt her, I will end you, and I will feel no remorse." With that, Laxus went back to his tent and went to bed for the night. It was going to be a long few weeks.

* * *

Evangeline helped Lisanna get better at her animal soul takeovers. All Lisanna was lacking was a bit of confidence. What better way to build it than transform in front of a mirror? Lisanna was able to see where she needed to improve, since the takeover was quite a visual thing. If the visual wasn't correct, the takeover wasn't complete. Evangeline also helped the girl to meditate to expand her magic container so she could maintain her takeovers for longer periods of time. The week they had was not a lot of time, though. Then, Mirajane and Elfman returned. And all hell broke loose.

"What the hell have you been doing with HER all week?" Mirajane screamed when she found Lisanna walking into the guild with Evangeline.

"She helped me with my magic, Mira-nee," Lisanna said. The girl was excited, but her sister was furious.

"Oh, you think you are so perfect, don't you? What, daddy got you a tutor and taught you some stupid magic, so you think you know everything now? I should beat the shit out of you, and take your boyfriend while I'm at it," Mirajane said, smirking. The guild, however, was silent. All of their "danger" sensors started to go off, and not because of Mirajane. No, they weren't scared of the She-Demon. They were scared of the REAL demon of Fairy Tail, and she wasn't even able to use her demon right now. No, Evangeline was dubbed the Lightning Empress from her massive attack that killed the man who killed her parents. She was ruthless. They just hoped she didn't kill Mirajane.

"Mmm, so that's what you think? You think I've never fought a day in my life. You think I've never faced danger. Faced death. Let me tell you something, false demon," Evangeline said dangerously. "You have five seconds to take back what you've said, or I will unleash the power of the Lightning Empress on you." Mirajane laughed.

"A rich kid like you couldn't be the Lightning Empress," Mirajane shook her head. "Let's go outside, bitch." Evangeline decided she was going to beat the shit out of Mira. She didn't care if Lisanna was watching. Mira needed to be knocked down a few pegs.

"Gladly. Let's go out back of the guild. We have more space. I don't feel like paying for repairs to half the city," Evangeline smirked. The two went out back while the guild cautiously followed. Master decided to call his grandson.

"Gramps? What happened?" Laxus answered after he saw his grandfather's face.

"Evangeline and Mirajane. Mira said something about her being a rich girl and some disparaging comment about her father," Master sighed. Laxus sighed even louder.

"Is newbie trying to get herself killed? Anyway, I'm halfway across the country. I can't get back to stop Evangeline. Good luck." With that, Laxus hung up. Master went out back to watch the match.

"Fairy Tail rules of a duel. Anything goes, so long as you don't kill your opponent," Evangeline said, her voice hard. Mirajane smirked.

"You won't even get a hit on me," she taunted. Evangeline took a deep breath and let her magic release around her. Mirajane's eyes widened. The magic pressure the blue-haired woman had was insane.

"Let's dance, false demon," Evangeline said. Then, she disappeared.

"Oh shit," Gray whispered. "Mira's gunna die."

"I'll intervene before it gets that far, Gray," Master said as he walked up next to the kid.

"Why did Gray say Mira-nee-san would die?" Elfman asked, concerned.

"Mirajane insulted Evangeline's entire life. Her status, her power, her love, and her dead parents. Evangeline does not take those insults lightly," Erza answered.

"Her parents are dead?" Elfman asked, shocked.

"She watched them die. Then she killed the man who did it with the strongest lightning attack ever made. Its power radiated for miles around, and at that point she was already well below a quarter of her magical energy. If she wanted, she could probably wipe out a whole country in the blink of an eye," Master said gravely. Their eyes turned back to Mirajane, who was on the battlefield and unable to see her opponent.

"What, hiding now? Are you scared?" Mirajane taunted. Then, a voice echoed all around.

"Hiding, false demon? That's what you accuse me of?" Evangeline laughed, but it was much darker than her usual laugh. "I'm all around you, but I guess I'll show myself to make it easier for you to insult yourself."

Mirajane went into her Satan Soul: Sitri form and went after Evangeline the second she appeared, only to be batted away with a single hand.

"You'll have to do better than that. I'll give you one more chance. I'm getting bored. Everyone here knows better than to bore me in a fight," Evangeline smirked. Her dark magic started to creep out around her.

"Soul Extinctor," Mirajane said as she let out a stream of dark magic. She smirked, thinking she had won, but then gasped when it vanished.

"Didn't I tell you, false demon? I have a REAL demon sealed inside me. In essence, I am her, and she is me. Now, I'm bored. So, I'll end this in one blow. You'll live, don't worry. You might take a few weeks to heal, but again, you'll live. I have a few rules for you, though. Rule number 1: You will NEVER insult my blood again," Evangeline said as she took a step forward, lightning crackling around her. "Rule number 2: You will never insult sacrifice again." She took another step forward, and the lightning turned red.

"Rule number 3: You will never go after Laxus again." Evangeline took one last step forward.

"Rule number 4: You will never underestimate your opponent again."

The only thing Mirajane felt was hot, burning pain. Evangeline sent a single red bolt at her. Mirajane couldn't dodge. She didn't stand a chance. She collapsed on the ground, passing out from the pain. Evangeline stood tall above the unconscious body of her guild mate. She turned and left the silent crowd that was around her and teleported away in her lightning.

Meanwhile, the guild couldn't believe what Evangeline was able to do with a single, wordless spell.

"Gramps, she wasn't even trying," Natsu said, staring at Mirajane's unconscious form. The old man nodded sadly.

"Anyone other than a guildmate would have had the full power of hell unleashed against them. Mirajane was lucky. I'd advise that no one ever make Evangeline upset in the future," Master said. "Someone please bring Mirajane to the infirmary."

Evangeline found herself in her old training spot. She was angry. No, she was furious. She had to hold back from truly teaching the cocky bitch a lesson. Evangeline hardly ever got this worked up. She sent her magic into the air around her. A massive storm formed over her head and reached as far as she could see. It stretched over Magnolia, where Fairy Tail members realized how powerful the young woman was. It stretched over Tenroujima, where Mavis noticed the pain in the magic. It stretched over the northern border of Fiore, where Laxus and his team realized that something really pissed Evangeline off.

"We've killed the target. You guys finish the rest of this. I gotta go calm her down before she destroys the whole damn continent," Laxus said as he looked at the massive storm that sparked overhead.

"She'll be near Magnolia. You can't teleport that far," Evergreen said.

"With her I can. This is her storm. It'll take me to her. Go," Laxus said before letting himself turn to lightning and move to the center of the storm. Thankfully, it barely took any magic for him to get there, even though it was hundreds of miles away. He was right, with her magic he could do anything. He shot down a few meters away from her.

"Evangeline," he called to her. She was almost in a trance. "Evangeline Hastings, listen to me." She turned to him, but she wasn't there. Not really. He walked closer to her.

"Stay back, I don't want to hurt you," she cried out. He shook his head.

"You won't hurt me, Ev. I trust you. I will get you out of this, okay? Listen to me. Whatever it is that's going on in your head, let it go. Take all the magic in the sky and shoot it down. You have to dispel it, love," Laxus said as he got closer to her. He was walking through her cloud of dark magic and lightning.

"I don't think I can do it," Evangeline whimpered. Laxus grabbed onto her and pulled her close to him.

"You don't have to do it alone, Evangeline. Let me help you. Let me guide it, you just need to follow," Laxus told her, still holding on to her body tightly. She wrapped her arms around him and nodded. He channeled his own lightning into the middle of the clearing, then came a massive blast of bloodred lightning. Evangeline managed to put up an obsidian sphere around them, so they didn't get caught in the debris. A few moments later, when she had calmed down, she let the barrier break. What they saw stunned them.

"Did I do that?" Evangeline couldn't believe it. The forest was gone. Everything was gone. It was just a massive crater. She started to shake. Laxus tightened his grip around her.

"It's okay, Ev. No one was in the forest. It's only about a mile out each way, so none of the towns were destroyed. Let's go home, okay?" he told her softly. She nodded while crying into his chest. He teleported them back to the guild, where his grandfather rushed out to meet them. Laxus picked Evangeline up in his arms and carried her inside and went right to his grandfather's office. Evangeline passed out from magic exhaustion while Laxus explained what happened.

"Well, I'm glad no one was hurt," Makarov said, sighing. "I'm astounded by her power. She holds back a lot in all her battles."

"She does. This is why. She lost control, and she's terrified of it. She was pissed, then lost control. I wasn't here to stop her from losing control. Yes, I know, she needs to figure out how to control it on her own, but it's been a hellish year for her, and even more so in the past few weeks. It was too much. I don't intend on leaving without her for anything for a while," Laxus said, looking at his girlfriend.

"It's probably for the best."

* * *

A few weeks later, Mirajane and Evangeline had a talk. More like, Mirajane apologized profusely for everything she had said to Evangeline and promised she would never do it again to anyone. Evangeline forgave her, then hugged her, which led to Mirajane bawling her eyes out, then the two became friends. Then, Romeo Conbolt was born.

Evangeline was absolutely in love with baby Romeo. She was almost convinced she wanted one herself before she stopped her train of thought. She didn't actually want a kid while she was this young. She did, but she didn't. She wouldn't ever tell anyone, but they all knew it. Laxus especially was annoyed.

"Ev, let him go back to his parents, we haven't been on a job in weeks," he complained. Evangeline started sniffling.

"But when I go, he's gunna get bigger and I'll miss it," she whined, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Ev, he's not our kid. Let him go back to his parents," Laxus said as he picked her up and carried her (and by extension, Romeo) over to Macao. "Macao, take your kid back please. I'd like my girlfriend back." The man burst out laughing before taking Romeo from Evangeline.

"Go have fun," Macao said as Laxus carried Evangeline out of the guild and off to the train station, where they still got tickets for free.

"So, where are we going?" Evangeline asked.

"Security at a certain concert venue in Hargeon, with a certain band that would like to have you be a special guest with them on stage," Laxus told her, a smirk on his face. Evangeline's eyes lit up.

"You're kidding! They want me back on stage? I'm going to be on stage?" Evangeline started bouncing on her seat. "Oh my gosh, I've missed the stage so much." Laxus laughed at her antics.

"I knew you'd like it," he said. "Now, lemme sleep. This whole motion sickness shit isn't any better with you bouncing all over the place." Evangeline settled down as she watched her love put his sound pods on and fall asleep.

The job went great. Evangeline was a hit with the crowd, and Laxus found himself at a crossroads. He wasn't sure what to do after this, and decided he needed to call the only person he dared to ask for advice. Gildarts. He called when Evangeline was recording with the band.

"Oh, Laxus, whatcha need kid?" Gildarts said when he answered his lacrima. Laxus took a deep breath before setting a serious look on his face. Gildarts noticed, then changed his own demeanor to a more serious one.

"I need your help. I don't know what to do," Laxus told him. Gildarts was confused.

"Don't know what to do about what? Evangeline? Did something happen?" Gildarts was now very worried.

"No, no, nothing like that, but it does have to deal with Evangeline. I… I'm not good at this kind of shit," Laxus muttered. Then, Gildarts understood what was wrong.

"You want to ask her to marry you, and you don't know what to do about it," Gildarts said before he burst out laughing.

"Oi, don't laugh old man! This isn't funny! If I wanted someone to laugh at me, I'd have called Gramps," Laxus shouted. Gildarts reeled in his laughter and took a deep breath.

"I'm laughing because I'm surprised it took you this long to realize it. We've all had a bet going for years about how long it would take for you to ask her," Gildarts said. Laxus's brow twitched.

"I don't think I'm even going to ask what other bets you assholes have going about us," Laxus muttered. Gildarts laughed again.

"Probably right there, kid. Now. First, you gotta find a ring. I think that's going to be the hardest part for you. Evangeline will be happy with anything, which is the problem," Gildarts told him. Laxus nodded. "Also, and I wish I'd known this when I proposed to my wife, rings have sizes. Make sure you figure her's out somehow, but don't let her know what it's for. If possible, get Gray in on it. He won't blab, and he actually likes you, so he'll probably help you. After the ring, it's all up to you to ask."

"Wait. You were married once?" Laxus backtracked. Gildarts sighed.

"I was. I couldn't stay away from adventure, though. Sometimes, loving someone means letting them go," Gildarts said, sounding like he was in a far-off place. "I don't think you kids will have that problem, though. Now. Ring. Go. Call me when you find one. I wanna make sure my kid got my other kid the best ring he could." With that, Gildarts hung up. All Laxus could do was shake his head.

Laxus decided to go around Hargeon for a while looking in jewelry stores at some of the rings they had. Nothing stood out to him. He was going purely off gut instinct on this part. He was hoping he didn't find "the one" without knowing her ring size. He also decided that the whole thing was a lot of work, but Evangeline would be happy, so he'd do it anyway. He made sure to keep track of the time, so he'd be back at their hotel before she was. Sure enough, five minutes after he got to the hotel, she returned.

* * *

They went back to Magnolia the next day to find out that Alice had passed away. To say Evangeline was devastated was an understatement. She had died from complications after she'd had Romeo. Evangeline decided she didn't want a kid anymore. She'd take care of Alice's.

For a few weeks, Evangeline and Laxus took care of Romeo 24/7. Macao was a wreck and couldn't take care of himself, much less a baby. Evangeline and Laxus were old enough to look after the kid, and Evangeline felt like she had to, so they were allowed to take care of the baby. They missed a lot but were at the guild when Elfman brought a giant egg into the guild that apparently Natsu and Lisanna had found. She had already given Romeo to Macao so the baby didn't forget who his real father was. Out of the egg hatched a cat. A cat from an egg. Then, Reedus asked for everyone to get ready for a picture, and Evangeline ended up in Laxus's arms, but she didn't mind. She was happy right where she was.

Three months after Alice died, Macao decided he needed to be the one to care for his son. Evangeline and Laxus were thankful to be able to sleep again, especially since S-Class trials were coming up. Laxus took more jobs with his team while Evangeline took solo jobs, mostly taking out bandit groups and small dark guilds.

Evangeline didn't particularly like Laxus's new team. They were mean to her. They also liked to try and sabotage date night. Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow didn't respect her, and one day, while everyone was back before the S-Class trials, she decided to put them in their place after hearing one of their conversations.

"You think that'll be enough to get rid of her finally?" Evergreen whispered to Freed, who was apparently planning the whole thing.

"Miss Hastings doesn't understand her place. She does not deserve Laxus's attention. I believe that setting him up will get her to leave, and he will probably thank us for it later," Freed whispered back.

"Pssh, she'd probably start crying again in the middle of the guild like usual," Bickslow told the group. Evangeline decided that she'd had enough and shot lightning at their table.

"How's about you say everything to my face instead? Or better yet, let me wipe the floor with you," Evangeline all but growled at them. She felt a bit of fear rise up in them, and she amplified it.

"I don't get why you are so special," Evergreen said as she glared at Evangeline.

"Then let me show you. The three of you against me. No holds barred. No holding back. I'll show you your place," Evangeline said as she turned her back and stalked out of the guild. She didn't feel like using all the money she had made to pay for guild repairs. The Raijinshu followed Evangeline out of the guild, then everyone else followed.

"Well, I did warn them," Laxus sighed. Master overheard his grandson and gave him a questioning look once they arrived at the place Evangeline had stopped.

"They started badmouthing her constantly. I told them not to. Then they decided to take it upon themselves to try and break us apart, which isn't gunna happen. They deserve everything that they have coming for them," Laxus explained. Master sighed.

"For once I agree with you," he said. "They should know the kinds of things she's capable of. They shouldn't underestimate her like this. I'll get someone to call Porlyusica out here."

Evangeline was showing no expression or emotion on her face. Everyone not involved in the fight felt the need to run. The Raijinshu, even as scared as they were, decided, against their better judgement, to fight her.

"I'll give you three the first chance to attack," Evangeline told them, her voice cold and emotionless. The three launched into an attack against her, all three using their eye powers. Bickslow stopped almost right away after seeing her soul. He fell stumbled away from her mere seconds after seeing it.

"Uh, guys, this is a really fucking bad idea," Bickslow said as he kept moving as far away from Evangeline as possible. Evergreen and Freed didn't listen.

"Good job, Bickslow. At least one of you understands your place. Now, for the two of you, which magic would you like me to use? Light? Dark? Ice? Lightning maybe? Should I make you feel so much terror that you pass out?" Evangeline asked the two remaining mages, still not letting any emotion into her voice.

"You're not worthy," Freed told her. Evangeline let a smile take over her face.

"Is that so, Freed Justine? I guess lightning it is," Evangeline whispered the last part. A small storm formed overhead, crackling with lightning.

"Evangeline," Laxus called out to her. She held up a hand.

"I won't kill them. I won't lose control either. I'm just really pissed that these fucks think they get to dictate our lives," Evangeline sighed. "Now, you two. I won't even use a named spell on you. Why? I don't need to in order to beat you."

"You're making a mistake by underestimating us," Evergreen grit out. She was scared, seriously scared. She wanted to run and join Bickslow, but her words betrayed her. She wouldn't make it out of this fight without taking some serious damage.

"Now, I hope after this I've earned your respect," Evangeline sighed again, then two bolts of regular lightning came from the sky and the two mages were engulfed in it for a few seconds before the storm and lightning disappeared. Evergreen and Freed were unconscious, but they would be fine.

"Match winner: Evangeline," Cana called out, not that anyone had bet on the Raijinshu. They had all recently seen Evangeline take out Mirajane with a nasty red lightning bolt, and then heard about her destroying a massive area of forest. Evangeline walked away from the scene of the fight back to her house. Gray and Laxus followed her.

* * *

"Why is everyone joining now an idiot?" Evangeline sighed as she dropped her head on the dining room table.

"They joined like, almost a year ago," Gray deadpanned. Evangeline sent an icy glare at him and he shut up.

"No one is used to a powerful, beautiful young woman. They feel threatened by you, that's why," Laxus said. He was sitting next to her, while Gray was across the table from them.

"I hope I didn't mess up my S-Class nomination chance with that fight," Evangeline sighed again.

"Would you stop sighing? It's really annoying and you do it all the time," Gray complained. He was then shocked. Evangeline stood and left the table, presumably to go up to her room.

"You deserved that one," Laxus commented at Gray's now-fried hair.

"Shut up, besides you need me for something, right?" Gray asked slyly. He smirked.

"Okay, the smirk is something you should NOT have picked up. I regret that. Anyway, I need you to figure out a way to get Ev's ring side," Laxus managed to say. He was sucking up a lot of his pride.

"She's a five on her left ring finger," Gray told him, blinking. Laxus stared at him.

"And you just know that off the top of your head?" Laxus deadpanned.

"I've been waiting for like, a year for you to ask me for this information. It's about damn time," Gray told him. Laxus dropped his head on the table, copying what Evangeline had done earlier.

"Well, I'm figuring it out now," Laxus sighed. "I've been to twelve different stores and I can't find something that she'd like."

"She's tricky because she likes everything, isn't she," Gray said, kicking his feet up onto the table. Laxus picked his head up and glared at him.

"Feet off the table," Laxus growled.

"Yes, Dad," Gray snorted. He was then fried again and decided it was time for him to go to bed.

Laxus sat at the table for a while longer before he made a plan to go ring shopping again the next day after the nominations went out.

* * *

"-And finally Laxus Dreyar," Master called out. Evangeline sighed. She had blown her chance because of her fighting. It had been a long year. A lot had happened. She went over to where Laxus was standing and kissed him on the cheek.

"Well at least one of us gets to go," she commented. Laxus wrapped his arms around her.

"I don't know why you don't get to go," he complained. "It's not fair."

"I think he probably doesn't want us to have to fight each other, at least not in competition," Evangeline speculated. "We are both overly competitive." Laxus nodded in agreement.

"I'll get it this year, you get it next year. Let's make that a deal, okay?" Laxus said. Evangeline nodded.

"Deal. Now, I'm assuming that you won't be bringing me even as your partner, even though our magic is perfectly compatible when fighting others?" Evangeline said, hitting the nail right on the head. Laxus flinched.

"Yeah… Gramps told me in private that I can't bring you. No one can. You'd be an unfair advantage," he said nervously. Evangeline sighed.

"Figures. I guess since Macao was nominated, I'll be watching Romeo while you are all there," Evangeline said. She wasn't mad that she'd have Romeo for over a week, since they were apparently all taking off that night for a week of training before the trials. "You headed out tonight like the rest, then?"

"Yeah. Freed is gunna try and make me figure out some sort strategy by myself to go at the trials this year," Laxus complained. Evangeline held back a giggle.

"Well, I'll see you in ten days," she said as she kissed him again. A few moments later, they broke apart.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you, too. Be safe," she whispered back, pecking him on the cheek once more before he left. She still needed to collect Romeo from his father. She made her way over.

"Time to hand over the baby, Macao," Evangeline said as she held her arms out. Romeo, the chubby now six-month-old, held his arms out to her and laughed. She picked him up and tossed him in the air once before moving him to her hip.

"Ah, well, I know he's in good hands, so I'll take off," Macao said as he stood and left with Wakaba. With that, Evangeline sat down at a table with Romeo and watched the rest of the nominees take off to train for one more week. Master walked over to her.

"Evangeline, there is a reason I didn't nominate you for S-Class this year," he started, but Evangeline shook her head.

"It's okay. As long as I get to go next year, that is," she smiled, and Master felt a shiver go down his spine.

"So long as my grandson passes, then yes," he muttered. Evangeline giggled and shook her head. Romeo then started slapping Evangeline's cheek for her attention.

"Yes, Romeo? Whatcha need baby?" Evangeline cooed to him. He smiled brightly and squealed. She hugged him close to her. "Why are you so cute, dammit!"

"I never did ask how taking care of him was," Master said as he sat down across from Evangeline. She sighed.

"It was a lot. He was basically our son for three months. Three months. That's a long time for a new baby, and they change so much in the first few months. It sucks that Macao wasn't there to take care of him. He missed valuable time with his kid. He won't ever get that back," Evangeline trailed off. Master shook his head.

"No, I mean how was it for you and my grandson basically being parents?" he prodded. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Again, it was a lot. He didn't sleep through the night until near the end of when he lived with us. We barely slept, couldn't really work, ate like shit, and were practically dead. But it was great. I'm afraid, though. I didn't expect Alice to die from this. I don't want to end up the same way. Look at how level-headed Macao usually is, then put Laxus in his place. It wouldn't end well for anyone involved, Gramps. Also, we are basically kids ourselves still," Evangeline said while looking at Romeo. Master sighed. He agreed with her point.

"Well, I'll give you five years," he said before he all but ran away from her. She felt her eyebrow twitch. Damn old man and his meddling.

"There will be no more babies, Romeo. Sorry, you're on your own, kid," Evangeline told the baby. He blinked at her, then giggled.

"But maybe someday," she thought to herself.

* * *

Evangeline anxiously awaited the trials group's return. No one would know who passed, if anyone, until they made it back. They should be back any minute now, by her count. Romeo was on her lap, babbling away.

"Yes, Romeo. I agree. They should be back by now," she sighed. Romeo babbled back.

"I don't think so, Romeo. I know he's your dad, but I think Laxus was probably the one to pass," Evangeline told him, looking him right in his eyes. Romeo pouted, and that thus made Evangeline burst out laughing.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you understand what I'm saying, little man," Evangeline said through her laughing.

"It seems like we weren't missed too badly," a voice said from behind her. Evangeline's head shot around and saw the trials group standing in the doorway.

"Attention brats! Welcome your new S-Class mage, Laxus Dreyar!" Master shouted, then everyone cheered.

"PARTY!" Someone yelled, then the typical chaos of a Fairy Tail party started. Macao stopped by to pick up his son, then Laxus made his way over to her.

"So, how was having the kid again?" he asked, sitting down next to her. She curled into his side.

"I missed it, really. As miserable as I know we both were when he was with us, I missed him," she sighed. "Anyway, why are you asking me questions? I should be asking you all about trials! Congrats by the way, but I knew you'd pass." She kissed him, and he eagerly returned.

"Thank you, love. Unfortunately, I crossed paths with Gildarts. Fortunately, I know all his tricks and was able to get past him," Laxus whispered in her ear. He didn't want anyone listening in.

"We both know more than that happened. Freed looks upset, so what did you do?" she asked him. He smirked.

"I may or may not have knocked Freed out so I could talk about a private matter, which was itself a lie. Old man started twitching, then passed out," he told her. He knew she was rolling her eyes.

"And what was that lie?"

"That the reason that you were taking care of Romeo was because you wanted practice for a few months in the future," he said. Evangeline burst out laughing. Thankfully, the guild was so loud that no one thought anything of it.

"Oh God, I can see why he'd pass out from that," she said as she wiped tears from her eyes. She was laughing so hard she was crying.

"After that, though, I thought he was gunna kill me," he sighed. "He's glaring at me right now, I can feel it." Evangeline looked around and found the man in question indeed glaring at her boyfriend. She waved him over.

"Evangeline," Gildarts said in a serious voice when he got over to the table they were at. "Please confirm that what he said was indeed a lie so I can decide how badly I need to beat him."

"It's not true, don't worry. And please don't beat him up too much, I'd like him in good shape before his S-Class job," she said. Gildarts sighed.

"Fine, I won't. If he does anything in the future, though, let me know, and I WILL kill him," he pouted.

"You and I both know you are as bad as Gramps," Laxus muttered. Gildarts sputtered.

"I don't know what you are talking about," he managed to say before stumbling away from the table.

"You're so mean," Evangeline smacked him on the shoulder. Laxus grinned.

"Always. Now, we get to bring one person with us on our first S-Class job, and I'd like you to come with me," he told her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

"Of course," she said. A chair whizzed over their heads. "It might be time to go."

"Time to go indeed."

* * *

_Year 6_

Evangeline was bored. She groaned and dropped her head on the bar top.

"You know, you'll give yourself brain damage eventually because you do that so much," Gray said from beside her.

"I. Am. Bored."

"Well then go on a job," he said.

"There's nothing good on the normal board."

"Then get Laxus to bring you on an S-Class."

"He's on one for another two weeks."

"Well that the hell do you want me to do?"

"Remember that it's my birthday, maybe?" Evangeline sighed. Gray dropped his head on the bar top next to her.

"Dammit, Ev, I knew I was forgetting something important," Gray groaned. "I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"You better. Do it now. I'm bored. Fix it."

"Uhh," he trailed off. He had no ideas. He picked his head up off the bar and looked around the guild. Finding who was looking for, he told her he'd be right back. She didn't pick up her head, so he was safe in his planning for now.

"Gildarts. I'm in trouble. I forgot her birthday. Save me," Gray begged the man. He laughed at the poor teen's misfortune.

"Well, there's not much I can do for you. I already have my present for her, and I know you can't upstage it," Gildarts told him.

"It's not my fault I'm a kid and you're as S-Class. I don't have that much money," Gray grumbled. Gildarts ruffled Gray's hair.

"Remember when you said you were saving money from your jobs a few years ago? What did you spend it on?" Gildarts asked. Gray blinked.

"I still have it. I forgot about it. I'll be right back," Gray said as he ran out of the guild hall. Evangeline finally picked her head up off the bar and saw Gildarts walking over to her.

"Happy 18th kiddo," he said as he ruffled her hair and set down a gift bag in front of her.

"Thank you," she beamed. At least someone remembered. Even her boyfriend of many years had apparently forgotten. She started grabbing things out of the bag and pulled out a jewelry box. She recognized it. It was her mothers.

"How?" she asked as she ran her fingers over it and then opened it. Inside was a note and her mother's blue diamond ring.

"She left that with me before that job that went wrong. She told me to give it to you when you came of age," Gildarts explained. She took out the ring and slipped it onto her right ring finger, and it auto-sized to fit her.

"I'll read her letter later, then," she said as she stared at the ring. It was a family heirloom, that much she knew.

"There's more in the bag," Gildarts told her. She reached her hand in and pulled out two more boxes. One was from Gildarts, the other from Laxus.

"He told me to give you his present he got you because he knew he'd be gone on your birthday," Gildarts explained before she had a chance to ask. She smiled at that.

She opened the box from Gildarts to find an embroidered bag. She knew it was magical just by touching it.

"It's loaded with a ton of random things that you could need in different situations… Or as you would call them shituations," he said. "It'll spit you whatever you really need in that moment. It's apparently really old magic, so I'm not sure what all is in there."

"Thank you, really," Evangeline smiled brightly at her godfather. He smiled in return, then watched as she opened the box that Laxus had gotten her.

Inside this one was a starfish, a seashell, and a game token. She blinked.

"Uhh," she said. She didn't know what it meant. She took each object out, then found an envelope in the bottom of the box. Inside were tickets to none other than Sunshine Island, a rentable island for two. "Well then, looks like I have a private island vacation in my future!"

Gray returned to the guild with his own gift bag and was out of breath. He walked over to Evangeline and held out the bag to her.

"Here," he said as he gave it to her.

"Thanks, Gray," she said as she opened it. Inside was a pair of earrings that matched her opal necklace, in both color and cut. The earrings were dragons.

"You really like the necklace, and I want you to wear something that I got you," he said as heat rose in his cheeks. He wanted his sister to wear something that he got her, especially since he would be even with Laxus after he finally got the balls to propose to her. Evangeline stood up and hugged him.

"Thank you, Gray, I love them," she said, genuinely happy and surprised with the gift. Gray looked behind Evangeline to see her other presents and saw the tickets to the private island and knew that he wouldn't have to wait long before his sister would finally get engaged.

* * *

Evangeline was sitting in a lounge chair near the ocean sipping on a mojito that Laxus had made for her. She was getting spoiled this week, and honestly, she loved it. Their time on the island was coming to an end, though. They left tomorrow, and she didn't want to go back.

"Do we have to go back? I'd be fine just staying here forever, honestly," Evangeline said as Laxus sat down next to her.

"Unfortunately, someone still have to pass their S-Class trial," he teased. She pouted.

"Not fair, I only didn't go because you just had to go and get nominated," she whined. He shook his head.

"You'll get it right away this year, I'm sure of it. The you should have been nominated two years ago, probably before that even," Laxus told her. She gave him a soft smile.

"I suppose. So, anything else left that you have planned? The sun's setting," she said quietly. She felt that he was very nervous about something but had no idea what.

"There's one more thing. We're going to the west side of the island, though," he told her. They got up and started making their way around the winding paths that led all over the island. Thankfully, it was well marked which ones led where. She hadn't been to the west side of the island yet, and that fact had completely slipped her mind until that moment. She didn't question him until he stopped her right before they were going to come over a ridge.

"I'll need you to close your eyes from here on out until I tell you to open them, okay?" he told her. She was getting kind of freaked out but agreed. He had some sort of surprise for her that he didn't want her to know about. He led her slowly over the ridge and down a hill and then she realized they were walking through sand. He finally stopped her then let go of her she heard him moving around a bit before he stopped.

"Open your eyes," he said. She did and was speechless by what she saw. They were standing under a willow tree that was strung with lights. There were also white strips of cloth draped through the tree, swaying with the gentle breeze. When it stopped, the cloth was more like curtains.

"This place is beautiful," she murmured, still taking in the place they were in before she realized where Laxus was. He was kneeling on one knee in front of her, and then she knew. She couldn't bring herself to say anything, though.

"Evangeline. You have been the light of my life for as long as I've known you. You are everything that I am not, and you are constantly pushing me to be better. You've taught me the meaning of love. Now, I'm asking you to let me love you for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me?" he said, looking at her the whole time. She felt tears pouring down her face and she could only nod. If she had tried to say anything she'd start sobbing. She didn't even know what the ring he'd gotten her looked like until he slipped it on her left ring finger.

The ring was a simple but beautiful. The center diamond was large, probably three carats, and had a platinum band that had smaller diamonds set into it. It was perfect. The next thing she knew she was kissing her fiancé and was experiencing what she could only describe as pure bliss.

She woke up the next morning wrapped in his arms. She stared at the ring on her finger. It was weighty because of how large the stone was, but she loved it. Every part of it was perfect. She turned her attention to the man she was going to marry and be with the rest of her life. He was always so peaceful looking when he slept. She ran her fingers through his soft hair, then turned her attention to his scar. She lightly traced over the lightning bolt scar over his eye. As she stopped, he opened his eyes, then leaned in to kiss her. Life was perfect.

Everyone at the guild was anxiously awaiting Laxus and Evangeline's return. Gildarts had filled everyone in on what was going to happen, hopefully, and now they just wanted to see the couple. They were hiding, waiting to surprise the two for an engagement party.

The doors finally opened to show a beaming Evangeline and an actually smiling Laxus.

"Congratulations!" Everyone shouted, with the exception of the older members who had said 'It's about damn time!'

* * *

The next few months went by in a blur. Romeo had his first birthday, Evangeline became friends with the Raijinshu, and she and Laxus had started saving for a new house. Mostly Laxus since he could take S-Class jobs, but Evangeline had quite a few dangerous people come after her that had large bounties on their heads. Their savings goal was 75 million jewel. They weren't going to stop until they had it.

Finally, it was time for the S-Class trails, where Evangeline was finally nominated. She ended up fighting Laxus head on in a bracket match. Needless to say, she took him out, but only after they had a very… erotic looking fight. Everyone was blushing by the end.

Finally, she fought Gildarts, and the two went all out. Evangeline was cut and bruised and bleeding, but she kept standing.

"Give in, Evangeline. You've done enough to pass," Master said, trying to get her to surrender. Laxus shook his head.

"She never gives in. She will always keep fighting," he said, and everyone knew it was true.

"One more attack, Gildarts. Then this will be over," Evangeline managed to say through her heavy breathing.

"One more attack," Gildarts said. He was only in slightly better shape than Evangeline.

Each one charged their attack, Gildarts sending Absolute Heaven at Evangeline, and Evangeline sending Raiko: Red Lightning. In the end, Gildarts was the one who was on the ground when the dust cleared. Evangeline was standing with a smile on her face and raised a hand in the air with the Fairy Tail symbol. Then, she started to fall, but Laxus was there to catch her.

Meanwhile, Makarov shook his head. Someone beat Gildarts. And she wasn't even using her most powerful magic. Evangeline was a monster when it came to power level. He wouldn't be surprised if she was made a wizard saint before too long. She was also pushing Laxus to get strong enough to compete with her. Having her around made him humbler and he talked less about strength and power when she was around.

The group finally docked in Magnolia before too long and they made their way to the guild, where everyone celebrated Evangeline's promotion.

"Laxus?" Evangeline said quietly. He was half asleep next to her at the guild.

"Hmm?"

"Let's go home."

**Oookay, I'm back! Sorry year 6 was short, but there wasn't much that happened from the timeline to go off of. The next chapter will be present, as usual, and then flashback. If anyone has some other good Laxus X OC fanfics, let me know! **


	7. Present: What happens on Tenrou

**Back to the present! **

Evangeline sat on the second floor of the guild hall and watched the chaos of the month before S-Class nominations unfold. She remembered when she and Laxus had done the same. She smiled a little at this thought. That didn't mean she didn't hate the trials themselves because they pitted members against each other, but there wasn't really any other way. Well, there was, but it wasn't the Fairy Tail way. She carefully watched Cana, who she knew got pretty upset around this time of year. She would be nominated again this year, no doubt. That would make it the fifth year she was nominated.

Evangeline decided to listen in to Cana's thoughts to see why the younger woman was so upset, and as soon as she started listening, she was shocked. Apparently, Gildarts was Cana's father. Evangeline blinked, not sure what to think about the new information.

Said man sat down next to her and tried to figure out what had made Evangeline short-circuit.

"What's got you all concerned?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"Not my place to tell. I'd rather be divorced the rest of my life than spill this," she said seriously. Now it was Gildarts's turn to short-circuit.

"That personal, eh? I guess I'll figure it out eventually," he sighed. "God, for as much of an ass your husband was, at least he made this rush more entertaining."

"That he did. I remember when he made Freed take a job to take out a dark guild alone because he wanted his main strategist to be S-Class. That didn't end well. Freed ended up unable to compete in the trials because he was so beat up, and Laxus actually felt bad, even though he wouldn't admit it," Evangeline said, remembering the events of three years ago.

"Those were the days," he sighed. "I had two real arms."

"You know, if you didn't take that damn 100 year quest you wouldn't have lost it," Evangeline snorted.

"Yeah, yeah, I was bored," he complained. Evangeline gave him a look.

"I'm just glad I was able to keep you home long enough to go to my wedding. I'm surprised you weren't beating Gray for walking me down the aisle," she said. Gildarts shook his head.

"Wasn't my place. I'd wanted to for a while, but I knew that it was better if Gray did it. After all, he was always there while I couldn't be tied down in any one place for too long," he explained. Evangeline nodded.

"I'm glad you're back for now at least. I'll yell at you to come back when I eventually remarry my idiot," Evangeline said before laughing softly.

"Ah, yeah, don't worry, I'll be there. This time I'll walk you down the aisle. Maybe that's why you divorced, eh? To get two chances to get walked down the aisle?" Gildarts said, poking fun at her. Evangeline pouted.

"Shut up, old man," she complained. He smirked.

"Oh hush, you'll be begging me to come take care of your kids not too far in the future," he teased. Evangeline sent him a death glare, then Gildarts realized she could easily kill him and paled. Seeing his reaction, Evangeline relaxed.

"I'd never trust you with my children. There'd be hundreds of toy soldier sized ones running around after you accidentally use your magic on them. Also, I'd want my babies close to home. I don't want them to become adventure seekers," she said, perfectly calm. Gildarts paused for a moment, then left. He decided he didn't like it when Evangeline talked about children. She laughed as he walked away.

"You know, that's kind of mean, Ev," Mira said as she walked up the stairs.

"Ah, yeah, well, he deserves it," Evangeline said. Mira rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, I heard babies. Babies?" Mira said as she got hearts in her eyes. "I can see it now. First there's going to be a boy that looks just like his daddy, then two girls, then another boy."

"Mira, I'm not having four kids," Evangeline sighed. Mira pouted.

"But you two would make the most beautiful babies," she whined. Evangeline sent a half-hearted glare at the woman.

"Sure, whatever you say. Anyway, that is far off in future as he is currently expelled, remember? No babies shall be made until AT EARLIEST after he's back and we've remarried," Evangeline said as she crossed her arms. She felt Mira get sad at first, then she got super happy.

"That means it will happen then," Mira exclaimed before she shot off down the stairs. Evangeline then realized that her grandfather-in-law was also listening.

"Evangeline, why do you do this to me?" he complained. "He's banished. I banished him and now I don't get great grandbabies until I let him back. How could you make that rule!"

Evangeline sighed. "So, you'd want me to be mostly alone with a baby with him not able to come visit? You and I both know that's not what we want, nor what anyone else would want. So that's why I said what I did. We're still only 23. That's still really young."

"I gave you five years, and those five years are up! I should banish you too!" he said, pointing at her and narrowing his eyes. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Go pester Levy and Gajeel instead of me," she sighed. Then, they both laughed.

"Ah, those two, dancing around each other. You are Mira will have to do something about that," he said. Evangeline considered for a moment, but then shook her head.

"I think it'll happen on its own. I think we need to let it happen how it does. It feels like it's important," Evangeline muttered the last part so only he could hear. His eyes hardened.

"Bad things are coming?" he asked. She nodded.

"That's all I can say. I won't risk changing this," she said.

"When did you see it?" he asked, curious as to when she had a vision.

"Last week, so not long ago. I saw this one very clearly and how events needed to play out. It'll be fine," she said, smiling slightly. He nodded, then went back to his office. Evangeline decided that she was going to go on a job of her own.

She picked an S-Class job that was nearby, close enough that she'd be able to teleport there. The job itself was to take out a demon, which for most would be considered difficult, but for someone with a demon inside her, it was super easy. The demon was terrorizing settlements around the base of Mt. Hakobe. She walked down to the first floor with the job.

"Hey Mira, I'm taking this one," Evangeline said as she showed Mira the job. Mira nodded.

"I'll see you back in two days then," Mira said as she waved to her friend, who walked out the door. Mira made sure to put through that Evangeline had taken the job and would be there within a few hours.

* * *

Evangeline teleported to the base of Mt. Hakobe and frowned. It was cold. Which she should have expected. She sighed, then walked around to find the person who posted the job. It was the chief of a small village on the south side of the mountain.

"Thank you for arriving so quickly," the chief said. "This demon has been causing problems for a few weeks. We didn't post the job sooner because we didn't know if the stories were true, but one day it came close enough to the village to see. Please help us!"

"Of course. I'll have it dealt with by evening if I can find it," Evangeline said as she smiled to the chief.

"Thank you, Miss?" he asked, not knowing her name.

"Evangeline Dreyar," she said, smiling a bit brighter when she found herself using her married name.

"Ah, yes, I knew I recognized your face. Your wedding was very popular in the paper here, Mrs. Dreyar. Thank you again," he said as Evangeline left to track the demon.

It was a few hours later when she caught onto its negative energy. Then, something interesting happened.

"Yep, that's a lesser demon alright," she heard in her head. It was Aspen. Both of them paused.

"Did you just… Think to me?" Evangeline said in her mind.

"I think I did," Aspen replied.

"Well, that's one more issue fixed, then," Evangeline thought.

"It's weird that it happened now, randomly," Aspen said to her, but neither of them where going to complain. This made training a lot easier.

"So, it's a lesser demon? And a real demon, not one of Zeref's?" Evangeline asked.

"This is a lesser Ice Demon, so it won't be too hard to take out. You could probably beat it with Ice Make, really," Aspen said. Evangeline was confused.

"If it's an Ice Demon, shouldn't it take less damage if any from its own element?" Evangeline asked.

"Yes. It will take less damage. But that just goes to show how weak it is, especially compared to you. Gray might have some trouble, but he'd still win. Now, go kill that thing. It's invaded my territory and I want it gone," Aspen told her, and Evangeline was happy to oblige.

She found it tearing through a forest to get to another settlement when she stopped it.

"Hey, over here you icy bitch!" Evangeline shouted. The demon stopped and turned to her.

"Ice Make: Lance," she cast at the demon. The lanced pierced the demon's flesh, and it screamed.

"Ice Make: Thorns."

"Ice Make: Ice Ray." With that, the demon was dead. Evangeline went closer to the demon and sawed off an icy horn to prove her kill to the village, then sent the demon's body to Hell where it belonged.

She returned to the village late in the evening. The villagers were anxiously waiting for her to return and were quite happy when they saw her walking through the gates with the demon's horn.

"Thank you, Evangeline Dreyar. We are in your debt," the chief said as he gave her the reward.

"I'm glad I was able to help," she said.

"Do you really have a real demon sealed inside of you?" a child asked her. She turned to face the child and nodded.

"I do. She's not scary to anyone unless they do something bad, like this demon. My demon doesn't like it when another demon comes to Earthland. Earthland is her territory," Evangeline explained as simply as she could. The child that asked the question's eyes lit up.

"That's so cool! Thank you, Miss Demon!" the child said before running back to her home.

"Ah, I apologize. The young ones never think before they speak," the chief started to apologize, but Evangeline stopped him.

"I actually like the term, or rather, my demon does. She's started to like humans more now that I'm her host," Evangeline said. "Better than many of my other nicknames by far."

"I have heard rumors that you've been called The Goddess of Fairy Tail. I believe that title suits you much better. Please, rest here for the night. It is late," the chief said. Evangeline agreed, then made her way to the small inn in the settlement and slept for the night. She returned to Magnolia the next morning.

* * *

"I wasn't expecting you back for another day still," Mira said as Evangeline took a seat at the bar.

"It was much easier than I expected. Aspen told me it was a weak demon even by demon standards," Evangeline said.

"She can talk to you through the seal now?" Mira blinked. Evangeline nodded.

"We don't know why it suddenly happened, but it might be like my thought magic. Just had to be the right time and the right mindset," Evangeline speculated. Mira nodded. It was most likely true.

"So, when is the announcement?" Evangeline asked.

"Two days. Poor Lucy will probably need someone to take her on a well-paying job before that because she's short on rent money again," Mira said. Evangeline looked over to the blonde woman, then nodded.

"I'll bring her on another S-Class. There was another demon job, and I'm sure Aspen will be able to tell me what strength it is before I even take it," Evangeline said. She went upstairs and pulled a demon hunting job near where Lullaby was destroyed.

"It's a more powerful demon, but it won't be a problem for you. It will be nice to have Lucy along for the support. Sagittarius will be the most helpful spirit for this demon, as it tends to fight close range because it has a magical shield that blocks close contact spells and damage," Aspen explained. Evangeline nodded once then took the job to Mira before grabbing Lucy.

"Lucy, we are going on an S-Class job in Clover. How fast can you be ready to leave?" Evangeline asked the blonde. Lucy sighed in relief.

"Ah, thank you, Evangeline, I'll make my rent… Wait did you say S-Class? I don't know if that's a good idea," Lucy mumbled. Evangeline shook her head and laughed.

"You're coming with me, Lucy. Everything will be fine. Worst case scenario is I let Aspen do all the work!"

"Fine," Lucy sighed. "Virgo has a bag already packed for me. I suppose we are teleporting?"

"You betcha!"

* * *

Lucy was amazed at just how powerful Evangeline was. She hadn't seen her fight except the Phantom Lord war, but even then, she wasn't really using her own power. The two females returned to the guild the day of S-Class announcements with their split of the reward in hand.

"Ah, Evangeline, I was worried you wouldn't make it back in time," Master said. Evangeline stared.

"Since when have I missed S-Class announcements? Also, I said I'd be back, so here I am. I didn't want Lucy to miss it, either. It's an experience, that's for sure," Evangeline said.

"I'll be announcing in two hours. I'm assuming you've already pulled the list from my head, though," Master said, winking at her. She laughed and nodded.

"It's a good group this year," was all she said before she made her way over to the bar to talk to Mira.

"Welcome back!' Mira said to her as she placed a glass of water in front of her friend.

"Thanks, Mira," Evangeline replied, then taking a drink from her cup.

"How was the job?" Mira asked her, curious to hear what had happened.

"It was good. Lucy got to see more of me in action, and she also contributed when she needed to and knew when to let me do the fighting. I wouldn't be surprised if she's nominated next year," Evangeline said. Mira nodded. Lucy was intelligent, but her team usually didn't let her fight much. Evangeline let Lucy fight when she wanted to, and Lucy knew when to back off and be support. That would do her well in the S-Class exams in the future.

"I'm glad! I was a bit worried because sometimes she isn't allowed to make her own decisions on when to do things on jobs," Mira said.

"I noticed she was hesitant after I told her that she got to decide when to do things unless I said otherwise, but after a while she got the hang of it. I hope that she gets more of a spine to her before she starts working with her team again. They try and protect her too much," Evangeline said.

"It'll be good for her to go on more solo jobs as well," Mira said. Evangeline nodded in agreement.

"Indeed," Evangeline said. "Think I can get a burger and fries? I didn't eat yet today."

"Of course! I'll get that ready if you can take over the bar?" Evangeline nodded and took over for Mira for a few minutes. Evangeline liked working at the bar and talking to everyone. About twenty minutes later, Evangeline's food was ready, and she eagerly ate. She was hungrier than she had thought when she finished her food and was still hungry. She didn't have enough time to get something else because the announcement was going to start any minute now. She hadn't realized how long she was at the bar and that two hours had already passed.

"Attention brats! It is now time to announce the names of those who are nominated for the S-Class trials this year! There will be 8 participants: Freed Justine, Cana Alberona, Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Levy McGarden, Elfman Strauss, Juvia Lockser, and Mest Gryder. All candidates are allowed to pick a partner for the trial, so long as the partner is not currently an S-Class mage. That means that Evangeline, Erza, Mira, and Gildarts are unavailable to be your partners. You will be facing them in the trials. You have one week before we leave for our sacred island. Good luck to you all," Master announced. Everyone cheered for those that were nominated, although many had hoped for a nomination and didn't get it. They could always work harder next year.

Evangeline watched as Natsu and Happy took off before she could talk to them. Loke appeared on his own power and told Lucy he would have to suspend their contract for the trials, so long as nothing happened. Gray and Loke then also took off. Freed grabbed Bickslow, as expected, but the surprise came when Evergreen told Elfman she would be his partner. Juvia had wanted to team up with Gray, but thankfully Lisanna pulled Juvia away before she could withdraw. Levy was whisked away by Gajeel, which made Evangeline smile. Those two had been dancing around each other for a while. Finally, Mest asked Wendy to be his partner. Evangeline got a funny feeling about him. She didn't remember ever seeing him, and she had a damn good memory.

Over the next few minutes, the only person who hadn't grabbed a partner was Cana, who had disappeared. Evangeline felt bad for Cana. She hoped that this year she would decide to tell Gildarts that he was her father, but she didn't think it would happen. She'd been at the guild for so many years and had seen him so many times, but she never thought she was good enough to be his daughter. Evangeline knew that he would be very happy to learn he did have a kid of his own instead of just his 'fake kids.'

Master then called all S-Class mages into his office.

"The plan is that Mirajane, Erza, and Gildarts will stand in the way of the contestants on three paths, two paths will have contestants fight each other, and finally there will be a quiet path. Phase two will be to find Master Mavis's grave, as usual. Finally, phase three will eliminate the partners, and have contestants fight each other in a bracket. The last person standing will fight Evangeline the next day, depending on how injured everyone is. We might have to wait two days. Does everyone understand?" Master said. Everyone in the room nodded. They were excited to get trials going again. It would be an interesting year.

* * *

Evangeline found out through the grape vine that Cana had teamed up with Lucy for the S-Class trials. She was excited to find this out because Lucy might be able to get Cana to tell Gildarts the secret she had been keeping for so many years.

Now, everyone was on the boat. Natsu, as usual, was as sick as a dog. It didn't help that it was extremely hot. Evangeline felt that they were getting close to the island and teleported onto the island near the traditional camp point. From there, she waited. She was surprised that she was waiting a while until Levy and Gajeel showed up. They were the first to arrive.

"Damn quiet path," Gajeel grumbled when Evangeline looked at the pair questioningly. Then, they went off and disappeared to who knows where, most likely to look around the island. Next, Natsu and Happy arrived. This surprised Evangeline because she knew he had gotten Gildarts's path. It's never hard to tell where either of them is fighting because of both mages destructive magic.

Then, Gray and Loke came out, having fought Mest and Wendy. Mest and Wendy came out after and left the area to go explore. Gray and Loke stayed around camp.

The next ones out were Cana and Lucy, followed by Freed and Bickslow. Cana and Lucy had beaten Freed and Bickslow. Although she felt bad for her friends, she was happy that Cana was doing well. Not everyone would pass, and sometimes no one did. That's just how S-Class trials worked. You had to impress Master and the S-Class mages in order to pass.

Erza emerged from her path, having defeated Juvia and Lisanna. Evangeline sighed to this. Erza didn't know the meaning of restraint. Juvia was an S-Class wizard in Phantom Lord, and she would be a good addition to the S-Class group of Fairy Tail members. The last pair that everyone was waiting for was Elfman and Evergreen.

Surprisingly, they passed. They had Mira, and Mira was not someone who was going to go easy, even if Elfman was her brother. If anything, she went harder because she didn't want him to pass too easily and possibly get hurt on a job. She scanned their thoughts and memories to see what had happened, then burst out laughing when she found what she as looking for. Mira passed out when Elfman and evergreen bluffed that they were getting married.

A few minutes later, everyone was gathered at the campsite, with the exception of those that had lost. Freed and Bickslow would return to the mainland with Gildarts, and the rest would stay to cheer on their friends. Master explained phase two, and the remaining contestants were off. Evangeline knew that this was when everything would go south. Grimore Heart was about to show up.

Evangeline had seen the events of the attack and was happy that they won. She knew she had to fight Bluenote Stinger, a gravity mage. It wouldn't be a great match for her in the long run. She couldn't dodge. She didn't have much of a counter except for using lightning to teleport around, but she knew the fight would end in her favor. Gildarts would join in the fight and end it, leaving Evangeline with most of her magic power intact. She saw that Hades was defeated, and that was the end of that. She knew that everyone would get injured, but this was a fight that needed to happen. She didn't dare risk changing what needed to happen. She didn't want anyone to die.

Evangeline made her way to where she knew her fight would take place and waited. She sat on the ground and meditated, letting herself be pulled by Aspen into their shared mindspace.

"Are you ready?" Aspen asked her.

"I am. I know what to expect, and I know how the events will go. This is a curse on me, truthfully. I'd rather not know," Evangeline said.

"Knowledge is power, Evangeline. There will be a time where knowing how the future is will lead you to change it again. You'll know when it is time to use your gift to make a better future. Regardless of if you understand it now, there's a reason why you see versions of the future. Being a mortal, you wouldn't quiet understand. You haven't lived as long as I have," Aspen said, putting a hand on Evangeline's shoulder. Evangeline had nothing to say in response. Aspen was being unusually sagely. She knew something that Evangeline didn't about the future. Something bad.

"Now, go. Your opponent has arrived," Aspen said, tossing Evangeline out of the mindspace.

"So, this is the Demon Evangeline? A bit of a name contradiction, isn't it?" Bluenote said as he approached her.

"I suppose. I've thought of it before, but I let it go. If my title is Demon, then I will embrace it," Evangeline replied, opening her eyes, but not yet moving.

"Curious, your ability to let go. Perhaps if I turn up the gravity, you won't be able to let go of the fact that Fairy Tail is about to be destroyed," Bluenote said as he activated his gravity magic. Evangeline felt the pull of the land on her and took a deep breath.

"I guess that means I can't change your mind. Well, this will give me a chance to let go of my control," Evangeline smirked. She released her magic aura, causing Bluenote to stop his magic.

"I didn't know there was another SS-Class worthy in Fairy Tail aside from Gildarts Clive. I was hoping to be able to fight him today instead, but you will suffice," Bluenote said, sounding a bit… off. Odd. Weird. Evangeline decided that in this instance, it was good that she knew what to do and what would happen.

"I'd thought I was more well known, at least among dark guilds. Oh well, I've been out of commission for a year, so I'll forgive you. Now, shall we?" Evangeline said as she stood up and turned to face her opponent.

"Let's go. It'll be a shame if you don't survive very long," Bluenote said as he activated his magic again.

"Obsidian Spears," Evangeline cast, sending the dark shards at Bluenote. Bluenote dodged by changing gravity on himself before casting his own spell.

"Fall," he said. Evangeline then felt an immense pressure pulling her down. The ground itself looked like it was moving under the force of gravity as well. Evangeline grit her teeth and decided to teleport outside the range of the attack for her next spell.

A storm started to form in the sky above Tenrou Island and sparked with lightning. The lightning turned red as she changed the magic content of the storm to suit her attack.

"Red Lightning Blade," she cast, and a giant beam of red lightning struck down where Bluenote was. Thankfully, she knew that this attack landed and would allow for Gildarts to win the battle. About one hundred meters of forest was blown away from her attack.

"My, I wasn't expecting that. I suppose I should have, given some would call you the Lightning Empress, the reason that the Lightning Empress Armor was created. My, my, I suppose I should make you fly up into your lightning storm," Bluenote said as he changed the gravity force on her to be much lighter. She started floating up, then teleported away. Gildarts had arrived, and from here she wasn't to interfere.

"There's the man I had hoped to fight. The Lightning Empress was decent enough. I haven't a clue where she went. She was flying, but then she fell," Bluenote said, addressing Gildarts.

"So, you fought Evangeline, eh? She's around and she's fine. She knows where she needs to be right now, and decided to leave this fight to me," Gildarts said. "Now, I do have to punish you for invading sacred Fairy Tail grounds, and also hurting my god-daughter. No one gets to do that."

With that, the battle started. Evangeline watched as Gildarts struggled to figure out how to counter gravity magic. A few large hills ended up getting destroyed, and eventually Evangeline was getting worried because he was struggling, but she didn't move.

Gildarts defeated Bluenote with Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Empyrean. Evangeline knew it was time to go back to camp to regroup with everyone else. She emerged from the tree line so that Gildarts would see her. He nodded to her, knowing she did what she saw in her vision. They returned to the camp to find their guildmates beaten and bruised, but not ready to give up. This is when Evangeline realized something was off. Something was different. Master, in her vision, was fine and ready to fight Hades. Now, he was down and out for the count.

Evangeline started shaking. Gildarts looked at her, concerned.

"It's different," she said. "It's different and I don't know why, or how, or what happened." This made everyone freeze.

"I thought only your actions dictated the future?" Levy said, growing worried herself.

"I thought so. I did exactly what I did in my vision, and something is still different. I don't know how this day will end anymore," Evangeline said, falling onto her knees.

"Don't give up, Ev," Natsu's voice echoed through their campsite. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

"Don't give up just because something is different. Don't give up on us," Natsu repeated.

"I.. The last time-" she started, but Natsu cut her off again.

"That was then, this is now, Evangeline. Maybe that's what was supposed to happen, and what you saw was supposed to make you change that future. The rest of us won't give up until they are beaten. We are Fairy Tail, Evangeline. We don't let visions of the future and deviations from that future to tell us what tomorrow will bring. We are going to win, Evangeline, and we won't lose anyone along the way. Now, stand up, and get ready to fight. We need you," Natsu said, his magic radiating off of him. Slowly, Evangeline nodded, and got to her feet.

"We fight to make tomorrow possible," she whispered, and Natsu nodded.

"We need to take out Hades. Wendy, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Evangeline, I need you. Will you help me?" Natsu asked the group. One by one, they all nodded. The group then started the trek to Hades. She noticed Gray was quieter than usual, and was injured, and she didn't know what had happened. She hung back to talk to him.

"Gray? What happened?" she asked softly. Gray grimaced.

"Ultear. My master's daughter. She's alive. She was one of the seven kin of purgatory. Ur thought she was dead. Ultear had magic overload as a child, and Ur gave her to a magic institution that said they could help. A while later, they said that Ultear was dead, even though she wasn't. She was used as an experiment. She escaped and found Ur but saw that Lyon and I were with her and she felt replaced. She hated her mother and both me and Lyon. Everything is okay now, though. She fell into the ocean, where her mother's spirit now survives. It's just… a lot to process," Gray told her. Evangeline sent him a sympathetic smile but decided not to comment yet because she knew him. He needed longer to process what happened.

"Who did you fight?" Wendy asked from ahead of her. The small slayer had heard them talking, of course.

"Bluenote Stinger. I could have taken him out, but according to what I saw… I let Gildarts do it. Everything went according to it. But Aspen told me that I shouldn't necessarily listen and believe the visions. That sometimes I need to change them. I need to dig into the visions more after we get home," she said.

"What magic did he use?" Wendy asked again.

"Gravity magic. I thought I'd have a harder time countering, but with my lightning teleport I was able to attack without really any injuries. I've got a few scratches, but I've got most of my magic still. I'm glad I can help you take down Hades," Evangeline said. They saw that an airship was right off of the cliff.

"Get ready, everyone. Let's go," Erza said from the front of the group.

* * *

The start of the battle shook Evangeline to her core. Aspen was silent. Wendy was almost destroyed by dark magic. Hades proceeded to attack and beat down every other member that had gone to fight him.

"Ah, Demon Evangeline. I suppose it's time to take you out as well so I can get that demon. I must say, I wasn't expecting you to kill everyone I sent after you. I miscalculated how powerful you'd be with her power," Hades remarked, focusing on her.

"I don't use her for the hunters. That's all me," Evangeline said, her voice dark and dangerous. Her magic shifted from neutral to dark. The dark magic started swirling around her.

"Oh ho, look at this. Looks like this will be a battle of dark against dark," Hades sent her a twisted smile as he readied his magic. Evangeline requipped her magic cancelling sword.

"You've hurt my friends. My family. You've invaded sacred land to desecrate it. You have destroyed the tree that gives this island life. You will pay for my family's pain," Evangeline growled before launching herself at Hades.

Meanwhile, everyone who hadn't seen Evangeline completely serious in battle, so Lucy and Wendy, found themselves very scared.

"It'll be okay," Gray said from where he was laying. The girls looked at him.

"She won't let any harm come to us so long as she's standing," Erza added.

"Even though her magic is dark, she uses it for light," Natsu finished. Wendy and Lucy calmed down.

"Obsidian Binding: Lucifer's Cage," Evangeline cast, attempting to trap Hades in a cage that could drain his magic. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"Obsidian Seals, eh? I must say, I wasn't expecting that from you," Hades taunted. "Too bad it's not enough." He sent a string of attacks at her.

"Obsidian Dome."

"Do you really think you can win, Evangeline?"

"Evangeline, you can't let him win," Aspen told her. "He'll kill you trying to get me out of you."

"I don't plan on losing," Evangeline said, speaking to both Aspen and Hades. It was time for her strongest spell. She sent a blast of lightning through the ceiling of the ship, then let her magic take over. Red lightning started sparking around her through her dark magic that was still swirling around her. A massive storm formed overhead, and Hades's mask cracked. He was worried.

"Hear me, Oh heralds of the heavens. Grant me the power to rid this place of taint. Let blood run red as your holy lightning. Bend and break the bodies of my enemies. Vanquish them from my earthly plain. Lightning's Heavenly Herald's Purgatory Ray," Evangeline cast, using all her magic in the spell. Her guildmates all over the island felt the blast, and none except Gildarts could stay standing from the immense amount of magic power that came from the attack.

"Holy shit," Gajeel ground out from his place on the ground.

"How does she have so much magic," Levy asked, feeling faint from the magic.

"She's more powerful than me," Gildarts said. He was starting to sweat under her magic pressure. "I'm surprised she wasn't made a Wizard Saint already. She'd beat Makarov in a serious battle any day. This is the most powerful spell she knows. She made it up herself. She has the ability to create her own spells on the spot when she lets her magic take control."

"I'm never pissing her off. Ever," Gajeel sighed.

Back at the ship, the giant bolt struck Hades, or at least, that's what everyone thought. Evangeline collapsed down onto the ground, letting out a breath she had been holding. It was over. But then the debris cloud cleared to show Hades standing unharmed.

"Well, well, I was actually scared. But now you are out of magic and no one else is coming to save you. The Demon Goddess Lilith will be mine!" Hades cackled. He gathered dark magic in his fist and was ready to strike when something smacked him away with a yellow light.

Standing there in front of her was Laxus.

"So, you're the one who took out my gramps. Now you've got the nerve to go after my wife," he growled at Hades. Laxus was royally pissed. "I think you're asking for death."

"So, you're Makarov's grandson, eh? I'll take you down just like I took him out, but I'll make sure to keep you alive so you can watch me take the demon out of that woman," Hades said, readying for another fight.

Evangeline couldn't believe he was there. He was there. He came back. He was there to save her this time. She watched him fight Hades but didn't even have enough magic to use her main, born magic. Unfortunately, he got hit by one of Hades's seals. Natsu was showing signs of getting slightly better, and Laxus gave him the rest of his magic with his lightning.

Evangeline couldn't stand. She hadn't spent all of her magic like this in many, many years. She struggled to try and get up and fight with her friends, but Laxus, who was next to her, grabbed her hand.

"Let them protect you, Ev," he told her. She looked over at him and nodded.

"Just this once," she said as she closed her eyes and smiled.

Finally, Hades was down, but then he activated the Demon's Heart. Evangeline knew they would die if he cast anything. Laxus let go of her hand and nodded to her. The Tenrou tree had revived, and her magic was coming back. She had to get up and fight.

Just before Evangeline made it to her feet, and just before Hades cast a spell, something exploded. Hades's attack didn't work, and he was left confused. Evangeline searched for whatever did it and found out that the three exceeds had managed to destroy the Demon's Heart power core. Evangeline finally stood and faced Hades again. She took a deep breath in and felt magic start to pour into her body. This time, instead of dark magic swirling around her, light magic was.

"Hades. This is over," Evangeline said, her voice sounded ethereal, almost like she was an angel. "You have caused those two were once your comrades to suffer and shall now be judged. I hereby invoke one of the Three Great Magics of Fairy Tail… Fairy Law." A bright white light blinded everyone in the room, and when it cleared, Hades was laying on the ground, defeated. The light magic around Evangeline dissipated and the members of Fairy Tail got up and returned to the campsite.

* * *

Team Natsu, Evangeline, and Laxus arrived back at the campsite and everyone was staring at them.

"What the hell kind of magic power do you have," Gajeel said. He was the first to speak. Evangeline burst out laughing.

"Sorry you guys felt that, I kind of forget my own power sometimes. Not that it mattered really… Somehow, he didn't get hit, and that was my strongest attack," Evangeline sighed.

"It hit," Laxus said from beside her. She turned to him with a questioning gaze.

"No, it didn't," she insisted. Laxus shook his head.

"You were exhausted, but I noticed. He would have gone down within a few minutes regardless of if you used Fairy Law or not. For some reason it was damaging him over time through his magic system," Laxus explained. She narrowed her eyes.

"And how did you figure that out?" she asked.

"He was sparking with red lightning," Erza spoke up. "It was constant, but it got much worse whenever he channeled his magic."

"It's not supposed to do that," Evangeline sighed. "It's supposed to be a 100% annihilation spell that can destroy a whole continent." Everyone blinked except for Laxus and Gildarts, both of which snorted at her statement.

"Way to be casual about destroying a continent, Ev," Gildarts said.

"Wait, you used Fairy Law?" Levy asked, pulling everyone back.

"I did. The First granted it to me after Fantasia," Evangeline said, and Laxus tensed slightly beside her. She felt his emotions start to take a negative turn and she gently coaxed the bad feelings away. She tightened her grip on his hand.

"And you didn't think to tell your grandfather-in-law?" Master spoke from behind all of them. She and Laxus both froze.

"Sorry, Gramps. I kinda honestly forgot?" Evangeline said, her voice much higher than normal.

"Forgot about a sacred magic!? I guess now was a good time to remember at least. And you," he said, turning his attention to Laxus. "What are you doing on sacred Fairy Tail grounds when you are still expelled!?"

Evangeline made sure to note the 'still' that he had said.

"I came to pay my respects to the first. I also felt like something was wrong. Then I saw the storm, and here I am," Laxus said.

"Well we don't need help! The problem has been solved, now go," Master crossed his arms and looked away from the two. Everyone laughed and the groups started to separate.

Master walked away and indicated for Evangeline to follow. She knew that the Raijinshu was going to mob Laxus, and she also knew that Cana was finally going to tell Gildarts that he was her father. She had no idea what Gramps wanted to talk about.

"So, the First granted you Fairy Law?" he asked. She nodded.

"I don't know why, though. I thought only the Dreyar bloodline was able to use it," Evangeline said. Makarov nodded.

"With the exception of those the First deems worthy of receiving it. You were deemed worthy by the First. This brings me to my point now. I'd like to pass on the title of Master to you sometime soon," he said. Evangeline froze.

"You… You can't be serious. Me? Be Master of Fairy Tail?" she said. He shook his head.

"Contrary to what you think, you are more than capable of taking care of the guild. You have the heart and the head for it. It wouldn't be right away. I'd likely name Gildarts as Master for as long as he'll stay, then ask that he might pass it to you. I think he might stick around for a while at least this time," he told her. Evangeline sighed.

"I'll do whatever you think is best, but I don't think I'm the right person for the job. It's too early to consider me when there is a much better option," Evangeline protested, and he knew exactly who she was talking about.

"Do you really think he'd be a good Master of the guild?" he asked, skeptical of Laxus still after the shitshow he caused.

"Yes. He's different, Gramps. He's the same person I fell in love with again. He's the person who took care of newborn Romeo with me every day for three months where we didn't sleep. He took care of that baby with me even though he had no reason to. He'll be the same to the guild. He saved me today, Gramps. He saved us all today. Please, give him another chance. He deserves that much," Evangeline said, then left the area and went back to find Laxus.

She found him sitting next to Gildarts. She didn't want to get to close yet because she knew Gildarts needed to talk to Laxus. She made sure she was close enough to hear what was said, though.

"So, not only did you keep a secret from your wife, you then hurt her, then got divorced from her, then decided to make everyone in the guild fight each other, and then got expelled? What a loser," Gildarts said with a stupid grin on his face. Laxus scowled.

"At least I didn't have my kid right under my nose for what, 12 years and then proceed to list of EVERY WOMAN I'd ever slept with in a desperate attempt to figure out who her mother was," Laxus retorted.

"I certainly hope not, one of us being that stupid is enough," Gildarts sighed.

"Aye," Laxus sighed as well. Gildarts turned to his serious mode.

"So, what's your plan now?" Gildarts asked him. "Because I'm not letting you break my god-daughter's heart again. I shouldn't be letting you live, honestly, but unfortunately I think she'd be mad at me for killing you right now."

"I'll stick around Magnolia at least and wait for Gramps to let me back in. He did say 'still expelled' so," Laxus started. Gildarts nodded.

"I'll work on it. Anything else," Gildarts asked.

"Marry her again. I was an idiot. Honestly, she deserves a hell of a lot more than me, but she's too stubborn. I wouldn't be with anyone else. She wouldn't either. Go home, settle down, grow up finally," Laxus said, closing his eyes and thinking about the future might hold. Evangeline absentmindedly felt for the rings around her neck, then noticed that they weren't there. She started to freak out until Laxus pulled them out of his pocket.

"She's probably gunna beat my ass for stealing these, but I had to," Laxus said, holding up the rings.

"Yeap, she's going to freak when she realizes she doesn't have them," Gildarts confirmed, nodding his head.

"Well, I'll be back," Laxus said as he stood and made his way over to Evangeline to pull her away from the group. There were still too many people around.

* * *

Evangeline and Laxus settled just a bit away from everyone else. They didn't want to get too far away but wanted some privacy.

"So," Evangeline said, sitting down on the ground below a tree.

"So," Laxus repeated, sitting down next to her.

"How've you been?" Evangeline asked. She looked over to him.

"Not great, but been worse," he said. He looked over at her.

"Same here," she replied. They were silent for a few moments and looked in front of them so they couldn't see each other's faces.

"I hate this," he muttered.

"Me too," Evangeline whispered.

"I hate being strangers. We've never been like this. I don't want us to be like this anymore," he said, his voice cracking.

"I agree," Evangeline said, smiling sadly, tears coming to her eyes.

"I'll never let us get this far again, Ev. I've been dying inside for over a year. I know it's been even worse for you. I don't ever want to be apart from you again as long as I live," he said. Evangeline moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'd probably send your soul to Hell for a few years if you tried to," she said, letting her tears roll down her face. To anyone else, this conversation might seem… Really weird. But to them, it was exactly what they needed.

"I took your ring so I could ask you again, but you already knew that."

"Mhmm."

"So?"

"So, what? I'm expecting a legitimate proposal like the first time."

"Yeah, well, this is what you get the second time around."

"Well, I think I'll take it."

Everyone else was listening from the trees nearby. They had seen the two try and sneak off. They just wanted to see what happened, and the pervs were hoping for a lot more than they got. However, everyone was happy when they heard the two starting to talk. The whole conversation was so… them. It was right for who they both were: Broken kids who loved each other. Even if they weren't kids anymore.

"Well, I can relax again now," Gildarts said as he turned to leave the group that was stalking.

"Same here. Sis will be happy. Even if I don't like him even more than I used to dislike him," Gray sighed, and followed Gildarts. Slowly, everyone left the two to live in their own little world for a bit. Finally, they rejoined the group, and that's when Laxus noticed Lisanna.

"You're like… Alive?" Laxus said, not really able to say words. Lisanna nodded.

"I never died. Edolas me died. I got sucked into a portal called Anima that sucked me to Edolas, which is like a parallel universe. Mystogan is the Edolas Jellal. He's actually the king now. Anyway, I spent those two years in Edolas. Then, all of Magnolia was sucked up in a huge Anima and Evvie-chan ended up at Fairy Tail there, where she met Edolas you. That was… Interesting. Then a lot of other things happened like the slayers fighting a mechanical dragon and finally Mystogan reversed the Anima and destroyed the machine so we could go home, and now I'm here!" Lisanna said. Laxus blinked.

"Well then," he said.

"You really aren't good with words anymore, are you?" Evangeline teased. He rolled his eyes at her comment, and then Evangeline noticed that Mira was bright red in the face. She went over to her friend to figure out what was wrong.

"Mira? What happened?" Evangeline asked.

"I, uh, I…" Mira couldn't really form a sentence. What was with everyone and not being able to speak?

"Mira. Spit it out."

"Well you and Laxus are together again and you're like, grown up now and trying to settle down in the future and then I got to thinking about the babies, and ohhh the babies," Mira rambled, and Evangeline decided that was a great time to back away slowly. Laxus had moved away from Lisanna after making sure she was actually real, then found Evangeline sneaking away.

"What did Mira do now?" he asked her, looking in the direction of the She-Demon.

"Us being together and getting married again. I presume you understand where her mind went next," Evangeline sighed. Laxus sighed as well.

"Well, I guess that's Mira for you," Laxus said. Evangeline nodded.

"As long as this isn't something that happens more than once a week, it'll be fine," she said.

Suddenly, Evangeline got a really bad feeling of dread. Then they heard the roar. After that, everything happened so fast that Evangeline couldn't really keep up. One moment everything was great, then there was a dragon. THE dragon. The Dragon King, The Black Dragon of the Apocalypse, Acnologia.

She knew Laxus had picked her up and started running for the ship to get out of there, then everything changed, and everyone was running back to fight the dragon. Then, the dragon flew up into the air.

"It's going to roar," Gajeel said.

"Everyone focus your magic to Levy and Freed for their defensive spells. Hold hands, make a circle," someone called out. Evangeline didn't remember who it was.

She was next to Laxus, and he grabbed onto her right hand. She looked down and saw he was wearing his ring, and she smiled slightly. At least they'd die together.

"I love you," she told him, desperate to say it one more time.

"I love you, too," he said. Then the dragon roared.

And everything went black.

**Oookay, that's Tenrou. I really tried to power through this chapter to get it up because I'm super inspired for this story right now. Sorry this is a bit shorter than other chapters, but I'm happy with where I put things. There are a few changes to the original story line because Natsu didn't fight Bluenote. Other things might be different, but I'm trying my best to go based off the Fairy Tail wiki. Thanks for reading! **


	8. Past: The Best and Worst of Life

**And this will be the last flashback chapter for story and relationship backgrounds. Thanks for letting me experiment with this format! There might be flashbacks within future chapters, but it won't be the whole chapter. I plan on taking this story to after the war with Alvarez, don't worry. After that, I'm not sure what will happen. I'm starting to think about what I could do for a sequel, but only if you want it… Or if I want to do it. If I find something that I like I will do it regardless! Anywho, on with the chapter.**

_Year 7_

Evangeline and Laxus were out on their last job before they got married. Evangeline had made S-Class a few months before, but never had a chance to go on jobs with Laxus because he was always off with his team. Not that she disliked them, but she missed him. This job in particular was a SS-Class job that was labeled as 'Urgent' on the request board. Given, most of the jobs were considered urgent, but this one was different. A group of wyverns had taken up residence near a town called Snow, which was close to the northern border. Everyone in Snow depended on their livestock to survive, and the livestock were being taken and eaten. Snow wouldn't survive the winter if they didn't take out the wyverns soon.

This was how Evangeline actually convinced Laxus to go with her. He didn't want her to go on a SS-Class job for the first time alone, and Gildarts was not around to go with her. She decided to play her trump card: Crying. Laxus hated it when she cried. She started crying on command, a trick she had been practicing since Laxus was seemingly always gone and said that he didn't want to go with her because he was bored of her. That made him freak out, as was her plan. She stopped crying instantly, and Laxus knew he had been played.

"How many hours until we get there?" Laxus groaned. He hated trains.

"Seven. Settle in for a long haul. Then it'll be another two hours by carriage," Evangeline replied, rolling his eyes.

"Why did I agree to come?" he groaned again. Evangeline shook her head.

"Because you've been off with your team since we got engaged really, and especially since my promotion, and you love me," she said. "Come over here and put your head in my lap. It might help you sleep." Laxus did as he was told, knowing that his fiancée was not happy with him. He did feel bad because he was saving to buy a house with her, therefore was always out on jobs with the Raijinshu, but he knew he should have gone with her on more jobs. After he got settled, he fell asleep quickly.

Evangeline stared at Laxus as he slept and felt a smile come to her face. She loved him so much and couldn't wait for their wedding that was in three months. Evangeline was stressed with planning because she didn't have a dress yet, and she had to make sure that everything was ready to go. She knew she shouldn't have been stressing out too much, especially since she needed to be focused for the job they were on, but she wanted her wedding to be perfect. She only intended on marrying Laxus in her lifetime.

Evangeline requipped her soundpods and fell asleep within twenty minutes. She managed to sleep for about three hours before waking up again. Laxus was still asleep on her lap. She started running her fingers through his hair and closed her eyes. It had been months since they had had much time to just the two of them. She internalized most of her feelings about him not being around, and she really hadn't said much except that she missed him and wanted him to go on a job with him. Truthfully, she felt a bit like he had asked her to marry him because that just seemed like the right thing to do. He hadn't told her about why he was going on jobs so often. She knew they would probably buy their own place and… sell her parents house, but she didn't think that they needed to think about it too much yet. She sighed. They had a lot to talk about when he eventually woke up.

"Ev?" Laxus asked just after she finished her thought.

"Hmm?" Laxus sat up but didn't move away from her.

"We've got a lot to talk about, don't we?" he murmured. She nodded beside him.

"I think we do," was all she said. Laxus sighed.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around much. I've been trying to save a lot for a house and also to pay for the wedding and everything. I should have told you beforehand, so I'm sorry. I made you upset and that was never my intention," he started. "I've also been trying to get stronger so that you won't always be the one to protect me when things go south. I want to be able to protect you, too. I know that there are people after you because of Aspen, but I don't know why." Evangeline nodded.

"I think it's time that I tell you. No more secrets. Aspen is actually the Demon Goddess Lilith, but very few people know that. She is the most powerful of all demons. Zeref's demons are just failed experiments. Even though they aren't real demons, they are still very strong. Supposedly, the dark guild Tartaros is composed of demons from the Book of Zeref.

"Lilith was sealed for the first time around a thousand years ago, before the current era. Back in an era when magic reigned over everything, and it was practiced freely without fear of persecution. That's when she was put into her first host: Henry Danshaw. From there, she was forcefully removed from different hosts and sealed into others until year 576 of the current era. That's when she was sealed into an artifact and lost. Occasionally, she was found by adventurers and treasure hunters, but she was released from her seal only long enough to kill those that found her.

"That leads to 765, when I was four years old. That's when I found the artifact. My parents were on an expedition with the council to find her artifact, actually. It was a jade sculpture of an angel with only one wing. I said that it was sad and beautiful. I was going to walk around it to catch up my parents, but I tripped and fell. I landed on top of the artifact and it broke. Lilith came forth from her seal and appeared before me. To me, her true form is the most beautiful thing in the world. I told her the same when she appeared before me just as she was preparing to kill me, and that made her stop. She was losing energy because of the years she was in the seal and also because of the curse placed on her when she was sealed for the first time. She was fading and was about to die when I told her to seal herself inside of me so she could live.

"She wasn't happy with the arrangement for several years, but eventually she grew to love me. I named her Aspen because of the tree I found her artifact under. It was an Aspen tree. My parents came running after they felt her magic pressure and the darkness of it and made it just in time to see her seal herself inside me. My parents brought me to Era to see if they could do anything to remove the seal, but they said there was nothing they could do that would end with me living unless I let the seal go. I said I didn't want her to die. So, now she's sealed inside of me.

"She roamed this continent for centuries before she was sealed away. My goal is to one day figure out a way to remove her curse so she can have her own body and not be bound to mine. She says she doesn't mind, but I know she does," Evangeline finished. Laxus nodded slowly next to her. He didn't really have anything to say yet. A few moments later, he finally had a question to ask her.

"Do you regret finding her?" he asked. Evangeline shook her head.

"She's saved me more times than I can count. You, too, you know. Just because she's a demon doesn't mean she's evil. Kind of like Mira. Mira has a softer side, not that she shows it to many people. Aspen is the same. She only shows that side to me and people that I love. She's grown to love them as well. I miss her. A lot, really. I lost her and the same day I lost my parents. I think I was getting afraid of her powers near the end, and that's part of the reason that something went wrong that day, but Porlyusica said that part of it was due to a buildup of her energy in my body and immature magical system. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but we will see in the future," Evangeline said. "If she wasn't sealed inside me, you'd have died on that job, you know. I can't thank her enough that you are still here."

Laxus gently put his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. She relaxed into his arms.

"That's why I have to get stronger, Ev. I can't have you or Aspen protecting me. I have to protect you. You are everything to me, and I need to make sure I can keep you safe if I need to. We don't know why people are after you. What if you are sick and can't fight? What if so many other things happen. I can't let myself sit by and let that happen. You can take care of yourself; I know. I just want to be able to take care of you, too," he said, kissing the top of her head.

"Okay," she whispered, curling into him.

"Now let's sleep. We've got a few more hours on this damn train," he said, and Evangeline drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Finally, the two arrived in Snow. It was evening, so they still had time to stop by the client's house for more information. After getting the information they needed about where the wyverns were located, they headed to the inn they were staying for the night. The tension that had surrounded them on the train had dissipated.

"What else do we still need to figure out for the wedding?" Laxus asked her. He wasn't home much to help her with planning, but yet again, it wasn't something he was comfortable planning.

"Not much. We've got the cathedral reserved for the day, and then everything else is at the guild. Yajima has a restaurant and is covering the catering for free even though I told him he didn't have to. We need to figure out the ceremony and what we want there, and then we need to get the practice dinner set up," Evangeline started listing off, and Laxus nodded occasionally.

"Have you decided who will walk you down the aisle?" he asked gently, not wanting to upset her. She felt his apprehensiveness about asking the question, but she soothed that away with her magic.

"Gray is," she said. Laxus nodded.

"I'm a little surprised that Gildarts isn't going to," he noted. Evangeline shrugged.

"Gray really wanted to and I don't think Gildarts wanted to for whatever reason," she responded.

"I'll stay at home after this for a few weeks so we can finish all the planning before I head out again. You've done like, everything and I feel bad," Laxus sighed. Evangeline giggled slightly at this. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"You've started sighing as much as me," she told him. He shook his head.

"It's kind of hard not to when you sigh every other second sometimes, ya know," he said.

"Regardless, we should get some sleep before we take care of the wyvern problem tomorrow," she said. Next to her, Laxus nodded, and the two headed to bed.

The next morning, they ventured out to find the wyvern nest that was outside the city. The couple decided to try and take the wyverns out as fast as they could as a group rather than splitting the wyverns into smaller groups. Evangeline would lock down the wyverns with her obsidian seals, then she and Laxus would do a unison raid to wipe them out.

They finally arrived at the large cave that the wyverns had been taken up residence in. Evangeline also planned on collapsing the entrance to the cave so that this didn't happen again in the future. She looked over to Laxus and they nodded to each other.

"Obsidian Chains," Evangeline cast after feeling out where the wyverns were. They roared inside, but they couldn't move. They were stuck.

The couple moved so that they were in the direct path of the wyverns to cast their unison raid, the one they had created all those years ago when they trained with Gildarts.

"Unison Riad: Raiko: Red Lightning," they cast. Evangeline cast one more spell to make sure that the wyverns were dead.

"Obsidian Spears," she said, conjuring up spears of obsidian to pierce through the wyverns' thick hides. This spell was, of course, a sealing spell. The wyverns froze when they were speared, and then went limp, small red lacrimas dropping to the ground underneath them. Evangeline summoned them to her, and then went around with Laxus to make sure they were all dead. They took a scale from each wyvern as proof that they were dead. Thankfully, the colony hadn't laid any eggs yet so they didn't have to destroy those.

"Wyvern blood lacrimas?" Laxus asked her as they returned to the town. She nodded.

"Porlyusica uses them sometimes and I figure that she could probably use more," she explained.

"Ahh," was all he said. Then he paused.

"Did we just wipe out a whole wyvern colony without getting a scratch on us?" he said, blinking. Evangeline paused as well, then turned to face him.

"I think we did," she said. "I think Gildarts will get a kick out of this."

"That he will. Then he will try and one up us, but I don't think he will be able to this time," Laxus said. Evangeline shook her head.

"Anyway, I'm just glad we were able to take care of the problem quickly and easily. These people needed us," Evangeline said, her voice getting soft.

"They will be okay now. I doubt they will have any issues with wyverns for a while, but hopefully they never have a problem with them again. I think leaving their corpses in there is enough of a deterrent," Laxus shrugged. Evangeline gave him a look then shook her head.

"Let's get back to town and collect our reward. Then we have a very fun 2 hour carriage ride and a 7 hour train ride to get back home," Evangeline smiled. Laxus paled.

"Are you sure you can't just summon up a giant storm and then we can teleport to Magnolia?" Laxus asked, his stomach already getting upset from the mention of transportation.

"Nope, train it is," Evangeline said. "I don't feel like using that much magic just because you have a little problem with motion sickness. Think of it as punishment for being too busy." Laxus groaned at this but didn't say anything else.

They arrived back in town and turned in the scales to the client's home and collected their reward. They insisted on leaving half the reward to help the town recover from the damage. The townspeople greeted them and were very thankful that they saved them from the wyverns. They insisted on Evangeline using their snow lilies as flowers in her wedding, and she eventually agreed since the townspeople would show up with them anyway.

Finally, they were on the carriage on their way to the train. Laxus was laying down across from Evangeline trying to fall asleep, and Evangeline had requipped a book that she had been wanting to read.

"Really? How can you read on this death contraption?" Laxus asked her. She peered over her book at him and rolled her eyes.

"It's just you that has problems. And Natsu. At least you can keep it together better than Natsu can," Evangeline said. "Now go back to trying to sleep. It'll be better for you." Evangeline turned her focus back to her book.

Eventually they got to the train, and then they both slept. Even though they didn't do too much that day, they had pushed a lot of magic into their unison raid, and Evangeline had used even more magic than that with her obsidian seals.

* * *

Evangeline stared at herself in the mirror. It was the morning of the wedding. She'd just finished her hair and makeup. Her hair was curled, then pinned up into an elegant updo, but two curled locks framed her face. Her makeup was barely there, and she had made sure to use waterproof makeup because she knew she would cry.

She finally tore her eyes away from the mirror and turned to face her dress that was hanging up on the door behind her. She lifted her right hand to brush it over the fabric.

The dress was a white ballgown that had crystals sewn onto the bodice in a flower pattern. The skirt of the dress shimmered in the light because of the micro-light lacrimas that were fused into it. She'd gotten the dress custom made from a magical tailor in Crocus. It was extremely expensive, but in her opinion, it was worth it. It was exactly what she wanted, and she'd treasure it for the rest of her life, even though she'd only wear the dress once.

She heard a knock on the door.

"Ev? We've got a few minutes still but are you ready?" she heard Gray say through the door.

"Not yet. I need to get my dress on still," she responded before taking the dress off the hanger. The dress was easy to slip on because of it being made by the magical tailor. After she stepped into it, it tightened around her. She'd already had her heels on. Now, all she had left to put on was the necklace that her soon-to-be husband had bought for her all those years ago.

Gray opened the door just in time to see her fiddling with the necklace clasp.

"Let me do it, Ev," he said as he walked over to her. He quickly put her necklace on then turned her around to face him.

"Mom and Dad would have been proud, you know," he said to her softly, a sad smile on his face. Evangeline raised a hand to his face.

"I know. They'd be proud of you, too, taking care of your big sister all these years," she whispered. She closed her eyes after she removed her hand from his face, then felt him place something on her head. She turned to the mirror to see what it was and saw that he had placed an ice tiara on her head to go with her veil.

"Ready?" he asked her after she put her veil on.

"Ready."

Kardia Cathedral was decorated to the nines. The village of Snow had really outdone themselves with the decoration. If they weren't donated, they would have cost millions of jewels. Everyone within the cathedral was also dressed quite nicely. Evangeline wouldn't have complained if anyone wasn't dressed to wedding standards, but she would send "the look" and no one wanted to be the subject of "the look."

Representatives from Quatro Cerberus, Blue Pegasus, and Lamia Scale mingled with members of Fairy Tail until Master yelled for everyone to take their seats. Everyone sat, but there was still excited whispering echoing around the cathedral.

Evangeline arrived outside of the cathedral in a horse drawn carriage. Gray was riding with her and helped her down from the carriage. Her bridesmaids - Erza, Mirajane, and Evergreen - met her there. Erza and Evergreen wore flowing wine-colored dresses with halter tops. Mirajane, her maid of honor, was also wearing a wine-colored dress, but her dress was strapless. Each of the girls had a small bouquet of red and silver flowers. Also outside were Freed, Bickslow, and Elfman (because Mira had requested). Freed was Laxus's best man.

"Oh my gosh, Ev you are beautiful," Mira and Evergreen started gushing over her. Evangeline blushes at their compliments and waved a hand at them.

"Oh, you are beautiful too! I'm not that special," she started to say, but all three girls cut her off, telling her that it was her day.

A single bell tolled, which signaled to the group that it was time to go in. Evergreen and Elfman would go first, followed by Erza and Bickslow, and finally Mirajane would walk with Freed before Evangeline entered with Gray.

The doors opened and soon it was just Evangeline and Gray left alone outside. Evangeline took a deep breath before removing on hand from her bouquet of silver snow lilies and taking her brother's arm. It was time.

"Please rise," Master announced to the wedding attendees once the groomsmen and bridesmaids had arrived at the altar. Beside him, he watched his grandson nervously looking around the room. He noticed that once Laxus's eyes reached the door, however, he stopped moving, and even breathing. Makarov looked towards the door and knew why his grandson had had such a reaction. Evangeline, his new granddaughter, was absolutely breathtaking in her gown.

It seemed like forever until Gray and Evangeline reached the steps of the altar where Laxus met the two.

"Take care of her," Gray said, his tone serious, but not cold. He stared Laxus right in the eyes.

"I will," Laxus said, then taking Evangeline's arm from Gray. The two walked up the steps and stopped in front of Makarov. Mira took Evangeline's bouquet and adjusted her dress. Finally, it was time for the ceremony to begin.

"We are gathered here today because my grandson finally decided to stop being stupid and propose to his soulmate," he started. The crowd started laughing at this, but quickly quieted once they noticed a chill in the air. All three of Evangeline's bridesmaids were sending death glares at everyone. Makarov cleared his throat.

"Rather, as I was supposed to say, we are gathered here today to witness the union of these two people in the eternal bond of marriage. Before we begin, it is customary to ask for any objections, however if you dared object you would most likely find yourself dead within the blink of an eye," he stated, everyone laughing slightly again. Even Evangeline giggled a bit at the last statement. It was true, after all.

"Since there are no objections, we will now begin with the rest of the ceremony. Now, the only thing these two could not agree on was how long this ceremony should be. My grandson, surprisingly, was the one to want a longer and more traditional ceremony, and my soon-to-be granddaughter wanted one that was shorted. So as to appease them both, I'll be adding in a part of my own now so that this is neither short nor long, not contemporary or traditional. This is Fairy Tail, after all.

"I have watched these two grow from infants to toddlers to children to teens and now to adults. In every stage of their lives thus far, they have always supported and loved each other. They don't know this, but when they were wee little things, when one would start crying, the other would toddle over and comfort the other. A constant cycle of supporting or being supported, and always equal. Once I allowed them to start leaving Magnolia on jobs, they encountered fear for the first time. Raw, genuine, terrifying fear that only comes when the life of someone you love is threatened. From this fear, they grew strong. Their strength lies not only in magic, but in emotion. They understand the tenant of Fairy Tail: That we are a family. The tears of one are the tears of all. The pain of one is the pain of all. The happiness of one is the happiness of all. Today, we finally get to share the happiness of these two with everyone.

"I will say, that marriage is not easy. Love is not easy. There will be times that you will want to quit. Give up. Go to bed without apologizing for arguing with the other. However, you must not quit. You must not give up on each other. Never go to bed upset. Never forget to say I love you before the other leaves, even for the day. Remind each other why you have given yourself to the other every day.

"Both of you have made me prouder than I had ever thought possible. I cannot wait to see where the bond of your love will take you in the future," Makarov finished. Evangeline had silent tears dripping down her face while Laxus was sniffling across from her. Other members of the audience were openly crying from his words.

"The two of them decided to write their own vows for each other. Laxus, my boy, if you would," Makarov said, passing the microphone lacrima that he had to his grandson.

"Evangeline," Laxus started, looking at his bride. She looked solely at him, and he looked only at her, as if they were the only ones present at that moment in time.

"I don't know when I first fell in love with you. I do, however, know why they say it is 'falling' in love instead of any other action. When you fall, you smack into the group and feel like the weight of the world has come crashing onto you from all sides. That is exactly what it feels like whenever I'm with you because every day I fall in love with you again," he said. The audience was either aw-ing or completely dumbfounded that Laxus had this much emotion. Neither Laxus nor Evangeline noticed.

"I realized that I couldn't live without you after your parents died. They acted more like parents to me than my own father ever did. They made me realize that what feeling I had for you were what love really was. I saw the pain you went through, and I hated every minute of it because there was no way for me to take that pain away. For a while, I was looking into Time Magic to see if I could turn the clock back and prevent them from dying, but eventually I realized that was impossible. The only thing I could do was to promise to never leave your side.

"That's what I do today. Today, and every day in the future for the rest of our lives, I promise that you will never be alone. I will never leave your side. I will always be there to support you in any way you need, even if it is three in the morning and you want chocolate. At least now I've learned to keep a stash of it so that I don't have to find a 24-hour store," he finished. Makarov took the microphone lacrima back for a moment.

"Now, Evangeline," Makarov said before handing the microphone lacrima to Evangeline.

"I now realize that I am marrying into a family of good speakers. It's a good thing that I can fit into that," she started, hiccupping a little as she laughed. She had been crying the whole wedding thus far, and she was forcing herself to make it through her vows without breaking down completely.

"I remember the first time that you said you loved me. We were five, and you had just given me a Cala lily. You said that it reminded you of me. For some reason, I never forgot about that day. I remembered that it was warm without a cloud in the sky. After that, we went to my house and put it in a vase with water. We both cried when it died.

"My mother taught us a lesson that day. We had asked her why things die. She asked us why you had picked that specific flower out of any of them. You responded that it was the prettiest one there was. From there, Mom went on to say that the most beautiful things are often taken from us before we have a chance to blink. She was. My dad was. Your mom was. The love we had for them, however, never vanished. The love we have for each other will never vanish.

"To me, you are that Cala Lily and I picked you out of every other one in the world. We, as wizards, never know where our adventures will take us. We don't know what trials we will have, or when our time will come to an end. So, for the rest of our lives, I will be your Cala Lily and you will me mine," she finished. She let out a deep breath after handing the microphone lacrima back to Makarov. Laxus tightened his hands around hers.

"Now, who has the rings?" Makarov asked. Evangeline was then brought out of her private little world in which only she and Laxus existed.

"What do you mean who has the rings?" she deadpanned.

"We don't have a ring bearer," Makarov paled.

"Of course we do," Evangeline sighed. Everyone in the audience started laughing. Suddenly, little Romeo toddled down the aisle with a pillow and two rings tied to it. Evangeline hadn't noticed the little boy and his father were missing. Evangeline held her arms out for the boy, knowing he would come right to her.

"See? Here he is," she said, picking the little boy up and kissing his cheeks. "Can you give me the pillow, Romeo?" she asked the boy, who let go of the pillow. Mira took it from Evangeline and started untying the rings while Evangeline put Romeo down. Romeo, however, didn't want to move from his spot next to her.

"Romeo, come over here," Macao called for his son, but the boy didn't move. He was too busy staring at the woman who was his mother figure.

"It's okay, Macao. He can stay here," Evangeline smiled.

Finally, the rings were ready and given to the correct person and exchanged.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride," Makarov announced, and the audience burst into cheers and applause. Laxus swept Evangeline off her feet and pulled her into a deep kiss.

"I've been waiting to do that since yesterday," he whispered in her ear right after. He was holding her in his arms as he made his way out of the cathedral. The bells of the cathedral were chiming, and when the two got outside, the realized how big of an event their wedding actually was to the magical community. Reporters and citizens were everywhere. However, it only took a moment for them to stop caring. The rest of the guests followed behind them as they went to the Fairy Tail guild hall for the biggest party that would ever be thrown.

Later that year, Erza finally made S-Class. Evangeline was surprised that Erza had gotten the promotion first. She had always thought that Mira would get it first, but she learned in the trial that Mira still needed to mature a bit in her battle thinking. She didn't strategize enough, whereas Erza was quick thinking and quick acting. Exactly what an S-Class needed to be.

* * *

_Year 8_

Gildarts left. Evangeline was pacing across the floor in her new home that she and Laxus had bought together. It was beautiful, and she wouldn't change a thing about it. Not yet, at least.

"Ev," Laxus said for the sixteenth time in a row. She didn't seem to be able to hear him. He sighed. He knew that Evangeline was upset that her godfather had suddenly left on a 100-year quest, but he didn't think she'd be this upset.

"Evangeline. Stop pacing and use your words," he said firmly. Finally, she stopped pacing and looked at him. He saw the pain swirling in her eyes. His expression softened. "I'm sorry, Ev. I really am. But pacing and being upset isn't going to bring him back. He'd not dead, just gone on another adventure."

"I know," she sighed, making her way over to him and then curling into his lap after she reached him. She wrapped her arms around him. "I just don't want something bad to happen and not have any more time with him."

"It's going to be okay, Ev. He made you a promise years ago that he wouldn't let you be alone without family again. Given, you never really were alone, but you know what I mean," he said, nuzzling his face into her hair and wrapping his arms around her.

"It's S-Class trials time, too. I don't want to fight contestants and I'll have to now," she whined. Laxus chuckled.

"So that's what this is about? Only want the old man around so you don't have to fight other people?" he teased. Evangeline giggled lightly at his teases, which made Laxus feel a lot better. "Ready to go to the guild? Regardless of if the old man decided that S-Class jobs weren't enough for him anymore, we still have to go see who gets nominated this year."

Two weeks later, and Mirajane was promoted to S-Class. Evangeline was expecting this, but she also saw that Mystogan had impressive power. He was new, and he was extremely shy. Not that he was shy, per say, but he had something he wanted to hide. She wanted to eventually get to the bottom of it, but now was not the time.

* * *

Evangeline decided to take a solo job. She hadn't taken one in a while, and she felt almost giddy at the chance to have some alone time fighting monsters again. When she told her husband that she was taking a solo job, he admitted he was shocked that she had waited that long to take one again. It had been many months.

The job was straightforward from the description. Find giant monster that is terrorizing town. Kill said giant monster. Get paid. However, she was not expecting the wrench called Gajeel to be thrown into the mix of the job. She met him in the town her job was in. In an alley.

"Oi, lady, stop for a second," Gajeel called out. He saw the woman walking around the town earlier and saw her Fairy Tail emblem. Since he was part of Phantom Lord, he knew that fairies had to be messed with.

"And why should I do that when I don't know who you are or what your intentions are?" Evangeline called out, feeling out for whoever was behind her.

"You're a Fairy. I'm a Phantom. I'm wondering what you could possibly be doing on new Phantom turf," he grumbled. She released some of her magic power to let him know she wasn't someone to mess with, but not enough to provoke him.

"Simple. We had a job come in and I wanted to kill something. Any other questions?" Evangeline said evenly. She really didn't want to have to fight someone tonight. She just wanted to sleep.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice much more dangerous than before.

"I have many nicknames. The Lightning Empress. Several others here and there. I guess I will formally introduce myself, though. I am Evangeline Dreyar, S-Class mage of Fairy Tail. Who are you?" Evangeline said, her voice hard and serious.

"Gajeel Redfox, S-Class of Phantom Lord. Otherwise known as Blacksteel Gajeel," he told her before turning around and walking off. Evangeline blinked, then frowned. She would have to keep an eye on him.

* * *

The next day, Evangeline was making her way to find the monster that was terrorizing the town. All was going well because she had killed the monster and was on her way back when suddenly the world went dark. When she woke up, she was in a cell, of course.

Evangeline waited for her eyes to adjust to the low lighting in the cell before scanning the small room to see what she had as resources. This wasn't the first time she had ended up in a situation like this, and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last. Unfortunately, this cell was much better equipped to handle a mage than others she had used before. There was an obvious magical seal on the door, and she felt magic limiting handcuffs on her wrist. Whoever had taken her had money. This didn't bode well.

"Ah, Lady Evangeline, I'm so glad you are awake," a creepy male voice echoed around her. "I was beginning to worry because you weren't waking up as quickly as I had anticipated."

Evangeline decided to stay silent for now. Typically, maniacs would ramble on about where the cell was and what would happen. Sure enough, this was the case.

"Blacksteel alerted me that you were in town. I had set a pretty nice price on your location. Now, I did say that it was because I wanted to greet an old friend who I hadn't been able to find on my own, but we both know he knew better than that. Right now, you are fifteen miles outside of Perth, the town you saved from that monster. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist helping poor, innocent people, so I lured the monster here as a trap for you. Now, I know you must be curious what I plan to do with you. I'll tell you everything so you can hopefully feel more relaxed.

"I want the demon inside you. However, I know that removing her will likely end up with both your deaths. I'm not stupid. In order to achieve my goal, however, I do need access to the demon. Now, what I plan on doing is injecting you with this serum over the next few days. This will force the demon to take over your body. The more of this I inject, the more the demon will want to surface. It is, in a way, a poison to the demon, but not to you.

"You were planning on being here for a few days, so no one will know you are missing. I also know that getting you to sit still while I inject you will be impossible, so I've hired some help," the man laughed, and then the cell door opened to show two men. Evangeline never let closed her eyes as they approached her and proceeded to beat her unconscious. She would get out of there she just didn't know how yet.

Over the next day, Evangeline was in and out on consciousness. She didn't know what time it was when she woke up, but it seemed that every time she awoke that she was being injected or was just injected. Thankfully, because of her earring, or perhaps because the injection was quack science (she wasn't sure), there was no effect on her body or on her seal.

Was she scared? Hell yes. But she couldn't let her fear take over her. Gildarts had told her once to use fear as strength, and that's what she intended on doing… at least, once she was conscious for more than half an hour at a time.

She knew her ribs were bruised, and several were probably broken. One of her arms was throbbing, most likely the result of multiple fractures. Her legs ached, but nothing was broken. They thankfully avoided her head when they beat her, probably by request of the maniac who kidnapped her.

Meanwhile, Gajeel was walking through the forest outside of Perth. He had come across the body of the monster that the Fairy had killed but had overheard she never came to collect her reward. Putting the pieces together, he realized that he had helped trap her. At this realization, something started eating at him. Guilt. He didn't know why he was feeling guilty. She was a Fairy. Fairies were a threat that needed to be put down. Except this way.

On his way back into town, he overheard someone talking about necklace they had found in the forest. It was a dragon carved out of fire opal.

"That necklace belongs to Evangeline Dreyar. I can smell it's hers," he found himself saying to the man who found it.

"The woman who came to kill the monster?" the man asked, holding the necklace up to the light to examine it more. "I guess she'll have to buy it off me again-" the man started to say, but was cut off when Gajeel pushed him against the side of the building next to them.

"So that's how this town treats mages? They do something to save you and then you try and resell them their own stuff? I guess I'll let Master Jose know that this town isn't suitable for a new location for Phantom Lord," he growled. The man he was holding dropped the necklace and shook.

"Please, we do want Phantom Lord here. We need the protection, we are so weak-" he started crying out, and Gajeel scowled.

"You are right. You're all weak. Pathetic. Get out of here before I beat the shit outta you," Gajeel tightened his grip on the man before letting him fall down from the wall. The man ran away as quickly as he could. He left the necklace. Gajeel picked it up and sniffed it, then sniffed the air around. He picked up traces of her scent and followed started following it.

"I don't know why I'm doing this, but you'd better be grateful, bitch," Gajeel grumbled to himself. Something about her scared him. The power she was letting off two days before wasn't even a fraction of her total power, and he wanted to see how strong she was. At least, that's what he told himself.

Several hours later, Gajeel had tracked her scent to a house in the middle of the woods. He stopped because he smelled three other people beside Evangeline inside. Slowly, he approached the house and went inside. The door was unlocked. Once he had opened the door, he smelt blood. A lot of it. He narrowed his eyes and found the staircase that led into the basement, probably were Evangeline was being kept. He came across the three men who were keeping her captive and quickly incapacitated them, then went to find Evangeline.

What he saw when he did find her shocked him. She was battered and bruised and broken, but when he opened the door, he saw her glaring at it, expecting it to be her captors. Her glare quickly turned into a look of confusion.

"Well damn," Gajeel whistled. "You sure got yourself into a mess, didn't ya?" Evangeline started to glare again, and Gajeel started to feel his danger instinct going off.

"Look," he started. "I knew something was up with that dude, but I never expected this. I thought maybe he was just a fan or something, not a psycho. Also, how the hell did you get captured?"

"I don't fucking know," Evangeline ground out with a raspy voice. "They knocked me out somehow. Magic, probably."

"What did they want with you? I don't see crazies looking for most S-Class mages. They aren't that stupid, usually," Gajeel asked. Now he was just curious. She shook her head.

"I'll tell you after you get me out of here," she said. She was getting tired, and she was in a lot of pain. Gajeel narrowed his eyes at her, but then got her magic cuffs off. When he was closer, he saw how her right arm was bent at an unnatural angle, and her breathing was shallow and uneven.

"Can you walk?" he asked. She nodded.

"My legs are fine, just sore. Give me a few minutes and I can probably just teleport us back to town, then I'll tell you some of it if you swear to secrecy. I don't need you sending more of these people my way. I get enough as it is," she said, tone threatening. Gajeel nodded, the paused.

"What do you mean teleport to town?"

* * *

Gajeel didn't like teleporting. After the two had landed, he vomited up everything in his stomach.

"Why the fuck didn't you warn me about that shit?" he complained, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. She weakly shrugged her shoulders.

"Everyone reacts differently. I haven't seen someone have this bad of a reaction to it, but it might have to do with you being a dragon slayer," Evangeline said. She turned and started walking towards the inn she stayed at. Her stuff was still there, as she had paid for several days.

Eventually, Evangeline got to her room and Gajeel followed. She propped herself up on her bed and closed her eyes before telling him a bit of her story.

"I have a demon sealed inside of me. A real demon," she started. Gajeel nodded for her to keep going. If he was trained by a dragon, it wouldn't be too hard to believe she had a demon.

"Now, this demon is very old, and she's extremely powerful. At least, she used to be. I'm trying to figure out a way to get her separated from me so she can go back to doing her own thing. For now, though, I'm her host.

"I've had over a hundred dark mages come after me to try and extract the demon. Most of the time, I kill them. It's generally frowned upon in Fairy Tail to kill, but we do when there is no other alternative, as is most of the cases when these mages come after me. This isn't the first time I've been kidnapped. Eventually, I would have gotten out, but thanks for coming to get me," she finished. Gajeel stared at her.

"So, you've been in that situation before? Is that why you didn't freak out when I showed up?"

"Yeah. After a few times of being caught, you get used to it. This time it was just another crazy person without much of a talent for magic. He had been able to knock me out with sleeping magic because I was unaware of it. I guess I spaced out while I was walking back," she trailed off. Then she sighed.

"Can you grab the communication lacrima out of my bag over there? For some reason I didn't put it in my requip space," she said, pointing her good arm to the bag in question. He grabbed it and set it down next to her. He was an asshole, but he wasn't about to make a woman with broken ribs catch something. He turned to leave, satisfied with having his questions answered. He still felt something nagging at him, though. Evangeline called out to him before he left.

"Gajeel. I forgive you," she said. He turned back to her and narrowed his eyes, then left. She sighed, shaking her head.

"Well, I doubt that'll be the last time I see you," she whispered to herself. She took the communication lacrima out of her bag and made the call she had been not wanting to make since she had gotten kidnapped again.

"Ev?" Laxus asked, wondering why she would be calling at this time of day, then he looked over her and saw her bad arm and sighed.

"Yep, got myself kidnapped again," Evangeline sighed.

"Where are you now? You're safe?" Laxus asked, worried about her. He knew she could handle herself, but he could see that she was in pain.

"Back in town. Perth. You should be able to make it with lightning travel," she said. She was tired. She just wanted him next to her, but knowing him, he would take her to see Porlyusica to get her bones reset. That wouldn't be pleasant.

"I'll be there soon, then we're going too see the old lady," Laxus told her. Sure enough, a few minutes later, she heard lightning strike near the inn she was at. Then, he was in her room.

"Receptionist give you a key?" she asked. He nodded. She relaxed a bit now. She was safe. Laxus scanned over her broken form, frowning.

"What happened, love?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. He went over to her and kneeled beside her bed.

"Another crazy. He used sleep magic on me, and I wasn't really thinking at the time. When I woke up, he said he wanted to force Aspen to take control of my body, so he was injecting me with some sort of weird liquid. He hired two guys to make sure I stayed unconscious," she explained softly. Laxus clenched his jaw. She saw and gently lifted her left hand to his face. "Hey, I'm fine. A few broken bones never put me down for more than a few weeks. They didn't do anything else. They are in custody now most likely."

Laxus picked her up and carried her outside. He would come back for her stuff later. All he was focused on now was making sure she was okay.

Evangeline and Gajeel ran into each other three more times in the next few years. The first time involved Gajeel causing an avalanche and Evangeline just happening to be there to save him. The second time involved Gajeel killing a monster that Evangeline was supposed to kill, so she gave him the job reward. The third time was right before Evangeline's divorce, and the two were on a joint mission to investigate a supposedly haunted forest. The only thing that was "haunting" the forest was a group of forest Vulcans, which the two quickly took care of.

* * *

_Later in Year 8_

Evangeline was sitting at the bar bored out of her mind. It had been three months since Evangeline was kidnapped on her last job, and Laxus hadn't let her do anything or go anywhere without someone else. She knew he was just trying to protect her, and it made since when one of her arms was broken, but she was all healed and ready to fight again. She was growing restless.

It was otherwise a dreary, rainy day in Magnolia. Members of the guild sat and talked at tables, but it was overall quite quiet. Suddenly, Evangeline felt a massive wave off sadness and self-hatred outside the door, and then the door opened to show Mira and Elfman. Lisanna was gone. They didn't even need to say it because Evangeline could feel it.

Evangeline snuck up to the second floor to her office before she broke down. She curled up on the couch in her office and sobbed. She didn't notice that her magic was making the rain outside turn into a full-blown storm. This is what alerted Laxus that something was wrong, as he was with his team in Hargeon and there were previously no clouds in the sky.

"Something's wrong," Evergreen said as she looked at the sky. The three males with her nodded.

"We need to go back. Something probably happened at the guild again," Laxus muttered. Just then, his comm lacrima rang.

"What happened?" he asked as soon as he picked it up. He saw his grandfather with a grave look on his face, and Laxus suddenly felt a deep sense of dread about the answer.

"Mirajane and Elfman have returned from their job. Lisanna is dead," he said. The group's eyes widened. They were stunned into silence.

"Please come back as soon as you can. Magnolia is in the midst of the worst storm since the last time she lost control of her powers," Makarov sighed, hanging up. No one could speak. It was completely unexpected. Lisanna was innocent and young, far too young to die.

"Can you three catch the train back?" Laxus asked, and the Raijinshu understood what he meant. He needed to get to his wife to calm her down, and he couldn't take all three of them with him.

"We will meet you at the guild once we arrive," Freed said, and the other two nodded slightly, their eyes downcast. With that, Laxus teleported back to Magnolia right outside of the guild.

His grandfather wasn't kidding when he said that the storm was bad. The wind was howling, and the rain whipped through the sky like needles. He found his way inside and was quickly pointed upstairs. He found Evangeline sobbing on her office couch.

Evangeline didn't even realize he was there until she felt someone scoop her up off her couch and hold her. She knew it was Laxus. No one else would do this. Slowly, she started calming down, as did the storm outside.

Lisanna's funeral was two days later. Fairy Tail buried an empty casket at Kardia Cathedral.

* * *

Several weeks passed and Mira had completely changed. She was now soft spoken and sweet rather than the goth demon girl she was. It was weird. She and Erza stopped fighting. Mira couldn't even use her Satan Soul anymore. She now worked at the bar. Evangeline was currently sitting on the second floor, her head resting on her husband's shoulder. She sighed.

"Back to chronic sighing again, are we?" Laxus asked her.

"I'm worried about Mira," Evangeline mumbled. "I don't know what to do. And now Natsu disappeared and he's still young and he's alone and I don't know what to do."

"Natsu can take care of himself. Mira, on the other hand, I'm not sure about," Laxus said. Evangeline lifted her head off his shoulder.

"Then what do I do?" Evangeline asked.

"Ev, if there's anyone in the world who can help someone with emotions, it's you. You can also see her memories. Figure something out. You're smart," he said, standing up and leaving her where she was. She needed to figure out a plan to help Mira, and he was going to let her do that on her own. She was the one that was the comforting one. He just pushed her into it sometimes.

Evangeline realized that her husband was right. Again. As per usual (not that she would ever admit that). She went downstairs to the bar where Mira was and felt out for her emotions. She felt intense sadness and guilt still coming from her friend. Gently, she started soothing that away. She didn't lay it on hard so that Mira didn't know what she was doing. She'd start with this first until Mira was ready to come talk to her.

This gentle easing lasted for a few weeks before Mira approached Evangeline to have her help go through her memories and emotions. Mira knew she would never be the same, but she had to find a new normal. She had to do it for her brother; her last remaining relative.

Laxus stuck close to home for a while. He never left on jobs that were too long or too far away, just incase his wife needed him. He didn't want to care about everyone else in the guild because he'd come to the conclusion that they were weak, but he'd never wanted any of them to die. He just wanted them to be stronger. He hoped that Lisanna's death would inspire everyone to work harder and get stronger. They had to.

S-Class trials finally occurred four months after Lisanna's passing. Life had started to go back to normal for everyone. Mira was making progress with Evangeline, but it would be slow going in the future. Elfman still blamed himself and took to the mountains alone to train.

Mystogan was the one awarded the title this year. Evangeline had seen his face in the trials and realized that he looked exactly like the new, very young council member and wizard saint Siegrain. Evangeline wanted to search Mystogan's memory, but she didn't. It would be a massive invasion of privacy. She did, however, make sure he knew that if he needed someone to talk to and no one to tell it to, that he could come to her. She would never break a promise to keep something a secret.

* * *

_Year 9_

Natsu had finally returned from his quest to find Igneel, but, unfortunately, he hadn't found his father. Evangeline felt bad for her young friend, but she knew that he would be alright. Natsu had gotten a lot stronger in the time he had been gone, as well. He would need his strength in the future. Laxus was starting to worry her with his constant talk of power. She wouldn't be able to convince him to let it go, not right now, at least.

Now, though, it was her anniversary. Laxus had brought her back to Crocus for a magical week just like they had had years before, just after her parents had died.

"What are you thinking about," Laxus asked her quietly, tightening his arm around her frame. It was morning, and they were still in bed. There wasn't really much of a reason to get up yet since this was a day they had planned to just not do anything.

"You know," she said, sadness leeching into her voice. She felt Laxus start to have guilt come over him, and something else she didn't recognize, but before she could feel for it again, it was gone.

"I know you don't like it, Ev. I'm sorry that I've upset you," he mumbled. She sighed.

"It's not about me being upset, love. It's about you thinking that our family needs to change. I understand that you want everyone to be stronger. I really do. But what you are talking about is taking it too far. Let's maybe train with them, help them. Everyone has already been training more since we lost Lis," she said softly.

"Mmm, so that's the compromise?" he asked, nuzzling his face into her neck.

"Compromise isn't exactly what I was going for, but it works," she said before turning over to her other side to face her husband. "Now, enough talk about this. It's our anniversary."

* * *

A few months later, Evangeline was watching Romeo for a week while Macao was on a job. Laxus was away as well, so it was just Evangeline and her favorite little boy. Romeo was very sweet and not a trouble maker at all, at least, around her. For Macao, he was terrible. He hadn't been around Laxus too much recently so she didn't know how he would act around her husband.

"Well, Romeo, do you want to go to the guild for a bit? We have a few hours before it's nap time for both of us," Evangeline asked the boy.

"Let go to the guild!" Romeo exclaimed. He loved going to the guild and seeing Natsu especially. Natsu was home right now and hadn't left on another job, at least, that she knew of.

"Well, let's go then, little one," she said, crouching down for the boy to climb onto her back, which he promptly did. She then teleported them both to the guild through her lightning travel.

Much to her surprise, Laxus had gotten back early and was upstairs. He was standing at the railing of the second floor and nodded to her when he saw her looking at him. She shot him a questioning look before letting Romeo down to play with Natsu. Gray was out right now, which was probably a good thing. He and Natsu fought like cats and dogs, but at the same time they would die for each other in a heartbeat.

Evangeline made her way to the second floor to see what happened on her husband's job that had him home so early.

"It was another target on you, Ev," he replied, sighing. She furrowed her brows.

"Like a few years ago? In Perth?" He nodded.

"Similar circumstances. This one had a lot more people hired, but they weren't hard to knock out. They are all in custody," he said. Evangeline shook her head.

"That's the fifth one in three months, Laxus. Why are so many more people learning about this?" she mumbled. Laxus wrapped his arms around her.

"I don't know. This group was affiliated with Dark Claw, a dark guild under Grimoire Heart. The recent ones have all been connected to dark guilds somehow. It's probably coming down all the way from the big three," he said.

"I hate this. I don't even really want to go on jobs anymore simply because I don't want to deal with it," Evangeline sighed. Her shoulders dropped. Laxus tightened his arms around her.

"We'll figure out where it's coming from and stop it eventually. None of them are stupid enough to come after you here at the guild, so you and everyone else are safer here. We're lucky they haven't realized targeting other people is the best way to get to you," he started, and Evangeline went to refute his last statement, but he continued quickly so she wasn't able to. "You know it's true and you can't deny it. What if they took Romeo, hmm? You'd throw yourself at whoever it was just to get the kid back to safety. You love everyone too much, Ev. Same with people we are supposed to be enemies with. Look at our last few jobs. You've tried to help them on trial."

"I can see remorse and hope for a future in the ones I defend. They deserve a second chance. The last few were all kids, Laxus. Younger than us. They were orphans just like most people in Fairy Tail, but they didn't make it to us. They fell into trouble and weren't able to get out," she muttered. Laxus shook his head.

"That's exactly what I mean, Ev. You care about them. It's who you are, but it's a huge weakness should they learn about how to exploit it. Just be careful," he said. He let her go and looked back out over the main floor of the guild. Evangeline requipped a watch and realized that it was time for Romeo's nap, even though he insisted he didn't need one anymore.

"Ah, shit, I gotta get Romeo and head home for his nap," she groaned. Laxus chuckled beside her.

"Let's go then," he said, and they descended the stairs and Evangeline caught Romeo as he was flying through the air, courtesy of Natsu.

"Natsu. I will smack you for that later. Babies are not meant to fly," Evangeline said darkly at the younger mage. Natsu paled and started shaking.

"Yes, Ma'am!" he said before he ran away from her.

"Ev, Romeo isn't a baby anymore, ya know," Laxus reminded her while they were walking back. Laxus was holding Romeo, as the boy had passed out from exhaustion when they got outside the guild doors.

"He will always be a baby to me," she said. "He's kind of like our kid, you know."

"I know. But you can't always be Mama Bear. Alice wouldn't have been," he said. Evangeline sighed sadly.

"I know. It's not fair that he doesn't get to grow up without his mother, though," she murmured.

"He does have one, though. He has you. Even if he doesn't call you Mom, he knows that's what you are to him. He's got it better than I did. I didn't really have anyone hovering over me all the time until I started spending a lot of time with you, and then I had you and your mother doing that," Laxus said, and Evangeline shook her head while smiling a little.

"Oh, make up your mind. One minute you say he's not my kid then the next you say he is," she said.

"Well, he's going to have a lot harder time in the future when he will have to share you," Laxus said. They had reached their house and put Romeo in his bed by now.

"In the future, you say?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, in the future," he confirmed. They hadn't really talked about having kids in years, given that the thought of possible death freaked Evangeline out a ton.

"I suppose he will have to share me eventually, then," she said softly. "But in the mean time, he will be spoiled rotten!"

* * *

_Year 10_

Evangeline sat in her bed in the infirmary and stared blankly at the wall. She had been in that state for a few days, and everyone was worried about her.

"Nee-san, please talk to me," Gray begged her softly.

"And say what, Gray?" she rasped out. It was the first time she had talked in a few days.

"Anything, so that's a start," Gray said, moving to sit next to her one her bed. She sighed softly.

"Gray…" she trailed off, the grabbed his hand.

"It's okay to not be okay, Ev," he said.

"I can't feel anything. My magic, emotions, anything," she said sadly.

"It'll come back. Right now, just focus on healing up. I'll be here the whole time," he told her. At this, she gave him a small smile.

"I know," she said, then yawned. "I'm going to sleep for a bit, I think."

"Okay, sis. I'll be back soon."

Evangeline fell asleep and didn't realize that her friends were all talking about her outside the infirmary door.

"She's talking now, at least," Gray told Master and everyone else who was outside: Mira, Elfman, Freed, Evergreen, Bickslow, Natsu, Erza, Levy, and Cana. No one else really fit in the hallway, so they would find out after the group dispersed.

"That's progress. What did she say?" Master asked. Gray frowned.

"She can't feel her magic. Can't feel her own or other's emotions," he said. The hallway was silent for a while before everyone gradually filtered out, except for Freed, Master, and Gray.

"Have you found him, yet?" Gray asked Freed. Freed shook his head.

"I have not. He won't answer his comm lacrima, and I have not heard from the inn owners in the towns nearby. Wherever he has gone, he wants no one to find him," Freed explained.

"Can't we send Natsu on his trail? He would be best at tracking most likely," Gray asked. Master shook his head.

"Natsu won't be able to find him. He teleported away with his lightning so he left no trial. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack the size of Fiore. He will return eventually, and then we proceed from there," Master said. "For now, we just need to be here for Evangeline."

It was three months before Laxus showed his face again. He showed up at the guild while Evangeline was back at her new apartment and dropped over a large envelope for her. He proceeded to pick up a job and disappear again. This cycle of showing up for a few minutes and leaving again continued for another three months before his team started to go back on jobs with him. The few times he was at the guild at those times, it was clear to everyone that he knew he made a massive mistake. He was suffering. Evangeline was suffering. Everyone was suffering. Eventually, eight months after the incident, everyone found a new normal.

**Okay! This is the last true flashback chapter, but there will probably be stories told in the coming chapters about events in the past. Sorry for not updating very quickly on this story recently, but life has sucked. I'm also editing past chapters! I'm not making any major changes, though.**


	9. Present: Tempest

**On to the present! Certain things might be exactly the same as in the manga.**

_X791_

Evangeline awoke to voices echoing around her. Some people seemed to be yelling, others crying. She opened her eyes and saw she was laying down under a tree, and then realized that her arm really hurt. She carefully sat up and noticed the soreness all over her body, as if she had been flung. Then she remembered what had happened prior to her passing out.

"Hey, guys, Evangeline is over here!" someone called out, then a bunch of people rushed over to her.

"Wait… Alzack? Bisca? You look older," she murmured as she watched them surround her. They were just two of the ones that came over to her.

"It's been seven years, Ev," Bisca told her while holding a hand out for Evangeline to grab. She took Bisca's hand and pulled herself up.

"Seven years? Seriously?" Evangeline said is disbelief. Bisca nodded to her.

"Everyone else is awake and moving to Christina to get back to Magnolia. You were the only one we weren't able to find," Alzack told her. At this, the group started walking towards the airship.

It didn't take long for the group to arrive, and Laxus was standing at the boarding ramp. His breath hitched when he saw her.

Evangeline saw him and broke off from the group, and, ignoring the pain all over her body, broke out into a run towards him. She got there in little time and jumped at him, his arms wrapping around her frame and holding her tightly. He set her down on her feet then kissed her as if he would never be able to again.

"I was so worried about you when no one could find you," he whispered to her after their broke apart.

"It'll take more than the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse to kill me, love," she said, kissing him again. Someone cleared their throat to their side, and they turned to face whoever it was that was interrupting them.

"We have to get going if we want to make it back before the weekend," Makarov told the pair. He had his head turned away from them because he knew that if he watched the two of them together, he wouldn't be able to make his grandson leave. Makarov promptly went up the boarding ramp to the ship, and the couple followed after him.

"So, seven years, huh?" Evangeline said as she rested her head on her "new-but-not-so-new" fiancé's shoulder.

"Mmm. Seven whole years," he sighed. "The whole world went on without us."

"In a way. But what about Romeo? My little baby really isn't a baby anymore, and you heard what Alzaxk and Bisca said. He doesn't smile anymore. The world didn't go on for him. For anyone that is truly a member of Fairy Tail. Or the members of Lamia Scale. Or Blue Pegasus," Evangeline replied. It irked her; the thought of basically being dead for seven years.

"He'll be okay now. He'll have his Mama Bear back," Laxus said, shaking his head.

"Oh, hush. You raised him, too. You're worried about him just like I am," Evangeline scolded. She saw Gray coming across the ship to talk to her. She hadn't seen or spoken to him yet. She lifted her head off of Laxus's shoulder just before Gray sat across from her.

"I'm glad you're okay," Gray said. Evangeline smiled at her brother.

"I'm glad you're okay, too," she replied.

"We were about to start tearing the island apart when Alzack found you," Gray told her. "Me and the asshole over there were about to head out when you came over." Evangeline laughed and shook her head.

"Ah, you two working together to find me. Sounds like the good old days, huh?" she teased. Gray and Laxus frowned at this.

"Not funny, Ev," Gray sighed. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Yes, it is. Anyway, it doesn't matter now. We're on our way home. We're safe."

* * *

A few days later, the group finally reached Magnolia's port. The dragon slayers felt as if they were dying aboard the ship for so long. Laxus hid in his room with Evangeline the whole time because he didn't want anyone else to know he had motion sickness. Wendy, of course, was fine the whole time.

When they finally reached land, everyone was excited to get back to the guild. However, everyone was shocked when they weren't taking the main street in Magnolia to get to their guild. They went to the outskirts of Magnolia to a run-down shack that now held the Fairy Tail guild banner overhead.

Natsu swing the doors open and saw there were people from a different guild in the guild hall, so he kicked them out through the wall. Evangeline wasn't paying attention to that, much. She was more concerned about her guild members that had spent seven years alone. She was looking for one person in particular, and finally, she found him and ran to him. She wrapped her arms around the boy and kissed the top of his head over and over again.

"My sweet Romeo, I'm so sorry," she told him. The boy circled his arms around his mother figure.

"I missed you," Romeo said, his voice shaking. "You're home now, though, so it's alright."

"I promise that we won't ever disappear like that again," Evangeline told him softly as she loosened her arms and let him go. Romeo then went and tackled Natsu in a hug as well. Everything was going to be alright now. Everyone was back together.

The Tenrou group started talking to different members of the guild, at least those that were left. Makarov was furious that Twilight Ogre was currently occupying the real Fairy Tail guild hall and holding debt over their guild. It was decided that he would go with Erza and Mira to make sure that the idiots never messed with Fairy Tail again.

Meanwhile, Laxus had snuck out. Evangeline felt that he was nearby but was walking away. She left the building and went after him.

"You know, I thought you'd stick around for a while at least," Evangeline said from behind him. He stopped walking.

"You heard Gramps. I'm still not a member. Not leaving Magnolia, but I just wanted to get away from the guild for a while," Laxus said, and Evangeline could tell even without using her magic that something was bothering him.

"It's not about that, is it?" she asked, walking up next to him and taking his hand. He looked down at her with guilt in his eyes.

"They're all still scared of me, Ev. I can't stay there when none of them want me around," he said, sadness leeching into his voice. Evangeline soothed away the guilt and sadness.

"They don't know you, Laxus. For them, it's been almost 13 years since you've been the Laxus they used to know. They've lost sense of who you were, who you still are. They only know the Laxus that set them up to fight each other, but that's not really you. You won't be able to change their minds if you keep running away every time someone sends a hesitant glance your way. Show them who you are, love," Evangeline told him. What she wasn't expecting was for Laxus to pick her up and start carrying her.

"Later. For now, my only priority is to take you home," he said, kissing the top of her. She rolled her eyes, but she relaxed. Everything was finally right again.

* * *

The next day, Evangeline and Laxus arrived at the guild around noon. They were in no hurry to leave their home that morning. Laxus didn't want to hang around inside the guild, so he decided to sit outside, and Evangeline joined him after getting some water from the bar. A bit later, little Asuka, Bisca and Alzack's daughter, came outside and wandered over to the two.

"Asuka-chan? Did you tell your parents that you are outside?" Evangeline asked the girl. She didn't want her friends to worry about their little one.

"Mmm! Mama and Papa know. I want to play with this," Asuka exclaimed, holding up her new toy rifle. Evangeline stood from her spot and kneeled down next to the girl.

"Oh, that's cool, Asuka-chan! When did you get that?" Evangeline asked, smiling at the girl.

"Papa gave me it to me at breakfast!" Asuka told her.

"How about I set up some cans that I just happen to have in my requip space for you to shoot at? Your Mama and Papa told you about the rules with guns, right?" Evangeline asked the girl. Asuka nodded.

"No pointing at people, and look behind," Asuka said. Evangeline nodded, then requipped some cans and set them up on the wooden fence on the side of the forest.

Laxus, meanwhile, was watching the two interact. It was odd in a way, at least to him. If they hadn't been on the island when it disappeared, they'd probably have a kid close to Asuka's age now. Maybe. The night before, he had a dream where he was watching Evangeline playing with a little boy while holding a little girl. The boy had her eyes but had blonde hair. The girl was like a clone of Evangeline. Now, watching Evangeline helping Asuka made him feel something that he didn't really understand, and he couldn't name it.

Asuka shot at the cans that Evangeline had set up and then Evangeline set them up again. Asuka had pretty decent aim, but she wasn't as good as her parents yet, but she was only five. She had a long time to get better. Eventually, Bisca called Asuka back inside. Evangeline turned back to see that Laxus was still sitting under the tree she had left him at. She walked over and sat down next to him.

"What are you thinking about?" Evangeline asked him. He shrugged. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Mhmm, sure," she said, standing up again. "I'll figure it out eventually, but for now, we should get something to eat."

The two returned to the guild after lunch to find everyone outside dancing. Evangeline, of course, wanted to join in the fun, whereas Laxus was hesitant.

"Oh, come on, we can do it right here, away from everyone else," Evangeline begged, flashing the puppy-dog eyes she had worked so hard on. Laxus sighed.

"Fine," he muttered. They fell comfortably into step with each other. Evangeline had a soft smile on her face.

"I remember we used to dance every Friday night when we were both home," she said quietly.

"And you would always insist that we both dress up incase we ever got to go to a society gala," he said. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"It's happening now, we are going on this job too, you know," Evangeline said. Laxus stiffened a bit at this.

"I can't," he told her.

"Yes, you can. We both work better together. Besides, its for distant cousins of mine. I used to write them every once in a while. However, I don't agree with the purpose of the ball," Evangeline trailed off.

"It's to get her married off, isn't it?" Laxus asked. He knew how she felt about arranged marriages, and he shared her sentiments.

"Mmm. There's nothing I can do to stop it, either," she said, sadness leaking into her voice.

"We can't have control over everything, Ev. This is something that is out of our control. She'll be alright," Laxus said. Evangeline shook her head.

"Lucy ran away from a life like my cousin's. The reason Phantom attacked was that Lucy's father wanted her to marry. My cousin doesn't have that option to run away. She's being reduced to an object," Evangeline said. Laxus kissed her forehead.

"For some reason, something tells me that things will work out," he told her. Then, the music changed, and it just so happened to be their first dance song from their wedding. They both paused for a moment.

"May I have this dance, dear future wife of mine," Laxus asked her, his voice deep.

"Of course," Evangeline whispered.

Whilst they were dancing, Gray had broken away from the rest of the group to find his sister. She was dancing with Laxus just in front of the guild hall. Both of them were very relaxed, and both had smiles on their faces. They both looked a lot younger, really. He remembered what Evangeline and Laxus had looked like when they weren't together anymore. Laxus just looked crazy, and Evangeline seemed to not have any soul left. Now, that was all fixed.

"You know, you don't have to be a stalker, Gray," Evangeline said, loud enough for him to hear. Gray sighed, knowing he'd been caught. Evangeline and Laxus stopped dancing and went over to him.

"Yeah, you caught me," Gray said with his hands up in surrender. The couple laughed a bit at this.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'm surprised you are the only one that noticed the song," Laxus said. He and Gray had been talking more since they got back from Tenrou.

"I'm not. Everyone else is kind of an airhead," Gray deadpanned. Evangeline and Laxus shook their heads.

"They are, but they are family. Honestly, I'm really surprised that Mira isn't over here. I figured she'd be nearly having a stroke," Evangeline said.

"She's dancing with Freed right now, so she's a bit distracted," Gray said. Evangeline smirked and Laxus just blinked.

"Wait, when did that happen?" Laxus asked.

"They haven't. Yet. I'm working on it," Evangeline said, smirk still on her face. Both males sighed.

"Ev, you are as bad as Mira," Gray said, and Laxus nodded in agreement.

"Scarier than her, too," Laxus added. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Mira deserves to be happy, too, you know. I also need to get Lucy and Natsu together, but Natsu is so dense that it might be years," Evangeline sighed.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Gray said. "I'm pretty sure he knows he likes her, but he doesn't know what to do about it."

"His inner-dragon is probably telling him what to do," Laxus said. "Just like how mine recognizes Ev as mine, his sees Lucy as his. Same with Gajeel and Levy."

"So, I just need to make his dragon jealous then?" Evangeline asked. Laxus nodded.

"I'd be worried about it if this wasn't you attempting it. You can beat him pretty easily, even with him going all out," Laxus said. "His dragon should get possessive enough that he will have to do something."

"I'll keep that in mind, then."

"Anyway, I'm going to head back. Remember to be ready to go tomorrow morning to the estate," Gray said. The couple nodded, then Gray returned to the rest of the guild.

"We should get home to pack," Evangeline told Laxus. He nodded.

"We should probably also get dinner ready for tonight to."

* * *

The next day, Fairy Tail boarded the train to the estate their job was at. It would be the first time Evangeline saw her cousins in many, many years. She was in a compartment only with Laxus, who was not happy to be on a train for a few hours. He was laying down on the seat across from her. Evangeline started soothing away from of his discomfort, but she couldn't make it go away completely. Thankfully, that was all it took to get him to sleep.

Evangeline then requipped a book from her storage space and started reading. This one was a history of Fiore over the seven years the Tenrou group was gone. She wanted to know what had happened, especially information about guilds coming up in their absence.

One such guild was Sabertooth. In the past 7 years, they had gone from a no-name, small guild to the powerhouse of Fiore. They had won a new tournament called the Grand Magic Games every year since it was created. Supposedly, the new guild master of Sabertooth killed the previous guild master, and that started the transition. The addition of five new members created a super team that dominated the competition. These mages included Rufus Lore, Orga Nanagear, Yukino Agria, and the Twin Dragon Slayers, Sting Eucliffe and Rouge Cheney. Evangeline filed these names away for further research.

Other changes included various updated magical laws that further criminalize dark mages, and a few that work to prevent another demon binding situation like Evangeline had.

"_You know, I think that's a good thing, really," _Aspen said in her mind. Evangeline blinked.

"Aspen? Ah, yeah, I forgot that you can talk in my head now," Evangeline thought to her demon.

"_I feel like I should be offended," _Aspen said. Evangeline shrugged.

"Shush. You know I love you," Evangeline thought. She knew Aspen would be rolling her eyes. "What's your opinion on this Sabertooth group?"

"_I don't like the sound of them. The dragon slayers might be problematic for us, as they were the only dragon slayers in Fiore for seven years. Try and get more information, at least about the type of dragon slayer magic they use. I might know something about their dragons at very least,"_ Aspen told her.

"I'll see what I can find," Evangeline nodded. With that, Aspen faded from her mind. Evangeline requipped a notebook so she could write down all the things she wanted to look into. She'd also seen in the book, right towards the end, that Raven Tail had become an official guild. She needed to know more. She also wanted to look into the Grand Magic Games. It would be good to enter if they wanted to return to their former glory.

She started with the Grand Magic Games. She found that every year, the games were different. That means there would be no patterns to base strategy off of for team formation. In the case of Sabertooth, their members were simply good enough all around that they dominated the competition. The rules also changed every year and would be released at the end of the week.

The reward for winning the Grand Magic Games was the prestige of the title of Strongest Guild in Fiore, as well as 30 million jewel. She'd have to look into job records for Sabertooth to see how many jobs they were pulling in a month. She knew Fairy Tail wasn't pulling in more than five every month, which made it extremely difficult to save up any money. It wouldn't be too difficult to get the council to show her the records she wanted.

Evangeline didn't realize how carried away she had gotten on her research until she felt the train begin to slow down. She made sure she requipped all her books into her requip space before she woke Laxus, and the two made their way off the train.

The guild made their way to the client's home to get instructions as to what they would be looking out for that night. Evangeline still was not happy that she would be playing a part in her cousin's arranged marriage, but she kept her thoughts to herself. Somewhat. She tried to keep in mind what Laxus had told her. Usually his instincts were right.

Unsurprisingly, they were. Her dear cousin would marry her beloved, even though her father had done everything to stop it. The group was back on the train heading back to Magnolia.

"I told you everything would work out," Laxus told her. She sighed.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I just worry," she said quietly. Wendy had cast Troia on Laxus before they left this time, allowing the two to talk.

"I know you do. That's why I'm here, to be the levelheaded one," he shook his head. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Yes, you being the levelheaded one," she scoffed. They both chuckled a few seconds later.

"So," Laxus said after a few moments.

"So," Evangeline mimicked. She was trying to figure out what he was going to say. She didn't pry into his thoughts, though, as it was extremely intrusive. She did feel him being nervous, though.

"When did you want to get married again," he finally said. Evangeline's gaze softened.

"Whenever. I don't think we need something traditional this time. Small, maybe head out to Akane for a weekend, then return to normal," she said, truthfully. He nodded.

"I heard Gramps talking about passing on the title of Master in the next few days. We should probably stick around at leas that long," he said.

"He is in two days. I already know who he has picked," Evangeline said. Laxus sent her a questioning look, so she continued.

"He talked to me about it on Tenrou. He wanted me to be Master, but I turned him down. It's not my future. I do know who he has picked for now, but I don't know how that will end up," she said.

"So, the old man, huh?" Laxus said. Evangeline nodded.

"I don't think he will take it either, or at least, he won't stick around to take it," Evangeline sighed. Laxus shook his head.

"No, probably not." They fell into silence again.

"What's on your mind?" Evangeline asked him. She knew something was bothering him still.

"Do you want kids?" he finally asked.

"Of course. Maybe not right now, but someday," Evangeline said carefully. Laxus seemed to relax.

"I've been having a dream recently. It's always the same. It's both of us with two kids; a boy and a girl. Part of me wakes up every day believing the dream was reality, then I realize it was just another dream," he told her.

"I've had similar dreams before. It's not unusual or something to be nervous about talking about. Someday, that will be our reality. For now, we are here, about to go on many more adventures before we settle down," Evangeline replied, a smile on her face. He nodded to her, then leaned back on his bench.

* * *

Sure enough, Gildarts was selected as the next guild master and left nothing but a note. This note was the reason that Evangeline dragged Laxus to the guild hall that day. Gildarts reinstated Laxus as a member at full rank, and then passed the title of master back to Makarov. The guild started to party again, as that is what members of Fairy Tail did, while Makarov, Laxus, and Evangeline gathered in a private room to talk.

"So, Evangeline, I assume you've been researching the Grand Magic Games already?" Makarov asked. She nodded.

"I've picked up the rule book for this year, as well as the past six years. The rules change every year, as do all the events. Fairy Tail has always come in last, but that will not be the case this time. The main contenders will be Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, Quatro Cerberus, and a new guild named Sabertooth. Sabertooth has won every Grand Magic Games thus far. Apparently, the new guild master is a tyrant who killed the previous guild master in order to push the guild farther. Overall, they are known for their cruelty. That's just the tip of the iceberg, too," Evangeline started. Laxus and Makarov frowned.

"Killed the guild master, huh? Who are their aces?" Laxus asked.

"Their main team consists of the Twin Dragons, Sting and Rogue. Sting Eucliffe is the White Dragon Slayer, and Rogue Cheney is the Shadow Dragon Slayer. They are adept as using their powers together in a unison raid and have never been beaten when they are together.

"Another of their aces is a mirror mage named Rufus. He can copy any magic that is not blood inherited or slayer magic. He is like Freed, extremely intelligent and calculates the likelihood of all possible moves before he even gets on the field. However, he has a lack of stamina, and can be beaten by mindlessness, such as Natsu or Gray.

"Yukino is a celestial mage, who is in possession of the rest of the golden keys, including the rumored 13th key. She is very powerful; however she is young and has a tendency to bite off more than she can chew sometimes. She generally gets out fine.

"Orga is the Lightning God Slayer. He has a massive magic container but tends to use power in place of strategy.

"Finally, there's Minerva. Minerva is as close to a demon as most humans can get. She's cold, calculating, and sadistic. She hasn't been in the past two games, most likely because Sabertooth's master decided they didn't need her power. She is the strongest out of any of them, partly because of her spatial magic. She's dangerous. I barely think I'd be able to take her right now," Evangeline finished.

"And as for the rules this year? Is there anything that we can use to our advantage more than other guilds?" Makarov asked, his voice low and serious. His brows were furrowed and his eyes dark. Evangeline smirked.

"We have the core group back. There's ten of us that would be ideal candidates for this," she started.

"We can only have one team, though," Makarov sighed. "How will I pick who goes and who doesn't?"

"You don't have to. There's a small line at the bottom of page 298 that states each guild may enter two teams into the games, however both teams must pass any preliminary matches in order to both be in the games," Evangeline finished.

"So, we get to send everyone?" Laxus asked, just to clarify. Evangeline nodded.

"We can send everyone. My recommendation would be to include myself, Laxus, Gajeel, Mira, and Juvia on one team, and Natsu, Gray, Erza, Wendy, and Lucy on the other," Evangeline said.

"What about Freed? He'd be an advantage to us," Laxus questioned. Evangeline shook her head.

"Freed wouldn't play the part we need him to. Besides, he is widely known among the nobility and higher class families, as that is his lineage. The Justine family is a contract of Sabertooth, so undoubtably they have a lot of information about Freed. They also would have leverage over him. Freed also wouldn't last the best depending on what I've considered as possible matches if it is a battle style," Evangeline explained. Laxus sighed but agreed with her.

"It's probably for the best. Ever and Bix also wouldn't be the best option, as they would likely get distracted and be unable to counter someone with a type of magic they hadn't encountered or someone that is much more powerful than them," Laxus said.

"Exactly. We need to play to the strengths of everyone, and the people I selected have the highest amount of experience in battle with other mages. I may or may not have confirmed that it is indeed a battle style games," Evangeline shrugged. The males blinked.

"No one knows that but the king, supposedly," Makarov said.

"You both know that I have my ways of gathering information. Regardless, I had some favors to call in from the council, and this was one of the less-demanding favors. There are a few more that will play out soon enough," Evangeline said, her tone reflecting that she wouldn't be saying any more.

"What do you propose we do? We have about three months until the games," Makarov asked.

"Simple. Announce Fairy Tail will be entering tomorrow at noon. Everyone will head off to train. Those of us that were on Tenrou are lacking in control and magic capacity, and we will all work towards getting stronger. As for teams, since we can enter two, the team that you should announce to the guild is Team A: Natsu, Wendy, Lucy, Gray, and Erza. Elfman as an alternate. Team B: Myself, Laxus, Mira, Gajeel, and Juvia. There may be room for some flexibility on our team depending on the event."

"Then that's what I shall do. You two should run home and get packing. I assume you'll be heading out tomorrow with the Thunder Legion?" Makarov asked the two. They nodded.

"We will," Laxus confirmed.

"I'm thinking we will likely train in the mountains."

* * *

"Mountains, Ev? The mountains? But it's so cold up here," Evergreen complained as the group trudged through the woods. It wasn't winter, so the ground was void of snow, but the air was still crisp.

"Yes, the mountains. This area is lowly populated, and it's good for Laxus and I to use our most destructive magic and perfect it without risking others. Whereas for you three, you can get used to more extreme conditions. Quite frankly, you're soft," Evangeline deadpanned after hearing Evergreen's tenth complaint in the past 5 minutes. Laxus rolled his eyes but didn't say anything because he agreed with her.

"Before you ask, we have another three hours before we make it to the place we are going to," Laxus added, and the rest of the thunder legion sighed. They were going to be in for a long three months.

"When will we get there?" Evergreen whined. "My feet hurt!"

"We will be there soon and stop complaining about your feet when it was your decision to wear heels in the first place, Ever. You knew we would be hiking a ways. It should only be a few more miles," Evangeline said, rolling her eyes. "We seem to have this conversation every time we are on a trip somewhere."

"You're not wrong," Freed chimed in. Bickslow nodded in agreement.

"Hey! I feel attacked," Evergreen pouted. The group laughed at her expense.

"So, what's the plan?" Bickslow asked, curious as to what Evangeline and Laxus had in mind for the next three months.

"We aren't sure yet," Laxus admitted. "We've lost 7 years of magic development, so we are very far behind everyone else."

"We are also rusty in our magical control. We need to get our old stamina and agility back, then we can work on getting stronger. This isn't going to be easy; I will warn you now," Evangeline said. "We will all be put through challenges that we might think we won't be able to overcome, and face pain we have never faced before, physically and mentally."

"We aren't afraid," Freed said confidently. Evergreen and Bickslow nodded in agreement.

"Whatever it takes, we are ready."

* * *

The group finally reached the place that would be their training grounds. It was at the base of a mountain many miles away from any sort of civilization. Here, they would be able to put themselves through extreme training without causing panic.

"Now, I think we should plan out the first month after we test ourselves tomorrow. We need to know our limits before we can set up a plan," Laxus said. "Tomorrow, the three of you will fight Ev and me. You three should go until you can't. From there, Ev and I will go one on one."

"The day after tomorrow will be a recovery day, as well as a planning day. After that, there will be no more days off. We need to push our bodies past the breaking point. Bad things are coming, as we saw from what happened on Tenrou. Zeref has returned, and Acnologia is aware of us as well. We need to be able to tolerate extended periods of magic use and magic depletion. Are you three ready for this training? If you aren't, you can still back out," Evangeline said, eyeing the group.

"I need to be able to protect my family," Evergreen said, determination burning in her eyes.

"I will not back down from a challenge," Freed nodded, and Evangeline saw the same determination in his eyes. Finally, she looked over to Bickslow.

"I guess I'll stick around," he shrugged. Evangeline smirked.

"Then rest for the night. We begin at sunrise tomorrow."

* * *

"I can't believe they are still going," Evergreen sighed from back at the campsite. Their battle with Laxus and Evangeline had ended five hours earlier.

"Those two have more magic each than the three of us combined. However, with the amount of magic they are using with each spell, I can only wonder how they have so much. It seems unnatural, even for them," Freed said. Then, the magic stopped. The group went out to where Evangeline and Laxus were battling and saw both of them passed out from exhaustion.

"Those two, they just don't know when to quit," Evergreen sighed.

"They wouldn't be our Evangeline and Laxus if they did," Bickslow pointed out. The other two nodded in agreement before bringing their friends back to camp. They woke up about half an hour later, having regained some of their magic.

"I feel like I got hit by a train," Evangeline groaned.

"Says the train," Laxus retorted.

"Did you just call me a train?" Evangeline asked, offended. "So rude!"

"I mean you hit like a train," Laxus clarified. Evangeline giggled.

"I know. I just wanted to mess with you," she said before she sat up. Laxus decided he didn't want to sit up just yet.

"So, we've got our baseline," Laxus said.

"We've got our baseline," Evangeline echoed in agreement. "Now we train from there."

"I've lost about 50% of my power, if I'm being honest," Evangeline admitted the next day. Laxus nodded in agreement.

"So, what is the plan for training, then?" Bickslow asked. He wasn't sure he really wanted to know, though.

"You three will be battling each other in order to increase your stamina. You can only get better at fighting by fighting. Make sure that you try and change up your attack style, as you know what to expect from each other currently. That is the downfall of training with people you've known for a very long time. Try to be unpredictable. Being able to adapt and confuse your opponent might save your life," Evangeline explained.

"We still stop for lunch around noon. After that, it's up to you to decide what you want to do," Laxus finished.

"I expect, however, that you will be doing actual training, and not over resting. Today is our only day of rest for the next three months. Enjoy it," Evangeline said, a smile crossing her face. Evergreen, Freed, and Bickslow paled.

"Of course, Ev," they said in unison.

"What will be your person plan of training, Ev? I know you typically do things a bit different than we usually do," Freed asked. Evangeline nodded.

"Laxus and I will be fighting each other most days. Since we both have such a large amount of magic, we need to be able to conserve it and channel just enough energy into our larger spells to make them have the desired effect, but not put more in than we need to. Other than that, I'll probably be working on new spells that I can use since my Ace isn't really so secret anymore," Evangeline sighed.

"It was never a secret. It's too flashy," Evergreen said, rolling her eyes. Evangeline shook her head, a small smile appearing on her face.

"I guess. That's what I get for using lightning, though. Aside from that, I'll probably also try some new ideas from Aspen," Evangeline shrugged.

"I'll be doing whatever she tells me to do," Laxus said. Evangeline nodded.

"Well, then let's all rest up and get ready for tomorrow."

* * *

A few days in to their first month of training, Aspen and Evangeline were having a conversation while Evangeline was meditating.

"You know, I think there is some of Elektra's soul lingering in the lacrima inside of your husband," Aspen told her.

"How?"

"I can feel it. Since my connection with you has less of a barrier now, I can feel the outside world much better, including my old friend's spirit. It's likely that whoever killed her and sealed her magic away did so before she was actually completely dead. It takes dragon souls about 20 seconds to leave their body because it has such a large magical presence," Aspen explained. Evangeline nodded.

"And you think Laxus might be able to contact her?"

"Exactly. If he's able to find the part of her soul that resides in the lacrima, she'd probably help him train his dragon slayer magic. She owes me a favor anyway," Aspen smirked. Evangeline shook her head.

"I won't even both asking why. I'll tell Laxus about it and see what he can do. Thank you," Evangeline said. Aspen nodded.

"Now shoo, you have something to tell that idiot," Aspen said as she threw Evangeline out of their shared mindscape. Evangeline opened her eyes to the real world and then stood to find Laxus. It didn't take her long.

"Laxus," Evangeline called out. He was sitting near the river near their campsite meditating.

"Hmm?" he replied, not opening his eyes.

"Aspen said that she knew the dragon that your lacrima is from," Evangeline said, and Laxus's eyes snapped open.

"And she didn't think to tell you this, I don't know, years ago?" Laxus said, somewhat irritated. Evangeline rolled her yes.

"She couldn't feel the outside world as well until recently. She picked up a familiar signature and attributed it to you and your dragon lacrima. She believes you might be able to contact the dragon's spirit, and she might help you," Evangeline explained. Laxus frowned.

"And how the fuck am I supposed to contact a dragon spirit inside of a lacrima? And why can't I feel that there's something there?" Laxus asked. Evangeline felt Aspen tugging on her mind, so she let Aspen take over.

"I can explain. Basically, you never accepted the lacrima as part of yourself, even now. You see it as a source of artificial power that your father decided to place inside you. You never felt for it's magic and pulled it into your own magic reserves. The presence of magic in it gives you your dragon slayer powers, but that's it right now. You could do a lot more with the power inside of that lacrima, and that's why I'm bringing this up. You can become a third-generation dragon slayer, Laxus. You can be trained by a real dragon, and thus have access to much more raw power as well as skills that other dragon slayers don't have. The main one I'm thinking about right now is the ability to go into dragon force on demand. There are many other advantages, too.

"I'll be completely honest since Evangeline has decided she can't tell you how bad the future will get. Your friends will die if you don't get stronger. You will die, Evangeline will die, Evergreen, Freed, and Bickslow will die. So, stop sectioning off the power that is inside of you just because it reminds you of a horrible part of your life. You don't get to be selfish anymore, Laxus. Elektra's power is inside of you. Let it become part of you," Aspen finished, her eyes flashing dangerously at Laxus. Laxus clenched his fists and looked at the ground. Aspen sighed and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Look," she sighed. "Evangeline is yelling at me right now and I'd rather not incur her wrath any further, so I'll make this quick. You've been beaten and battered your whole life. You've been a victim this whole time. You don't have to be anymore. Let yourself accept your weaknesses and share them with those you love. It's alright to be weak. You need to let yourself be weak now so that you can use that weakness as your strength. You are finding out who you are. I've lived many centuries, Laxus. I've seen many young men in the same situation as you. The majority of them don't allow themselves to be weak.

"There was one, however. His name was Tadashi. He had a horrible childhood, and he took it out on those around him, including those he loved the most. Then one day, Zeref's followers ransacked his village and took his family hostages to be sacrificed. He cried out to the sky 'why am I so weak that I can do nothing to save those I love?' Then, he heard something on the wind. A voice, carrying the sound of his love's voice. 'Let yourself be weak,' she said. 'It is alright to be weak. Weaknesses become our motivation, our hope, our future. Let your weakness guide you to your strength.' So, he did. He had only a few days until the full moon, so he poured over magical tomes before he found one that would be enough to save the people he loved.

"Tadashi used an ancient and now lost magic called Tempest. It was a storm magic, similar to your own. Tadashi knew that if he used Tempest to take out the dark mages, everyone would be free, including those that had hurt him so terribly. He knew he would die after using Tempest, and he would die freeing people who would not do the same for him. He was facing a war within himself: The broken boy he was, and the man he had become. Eventually, one side won. The night of the full moon, Tadashi became the last mage in history to cast the spell known as Tempest. He saved everyone in the small city of Magnolia. Now, his love was carrying his child, a boy she named Yuri. Yuri went on to have a son by the name of Makarov. Makarov went on to have a son by the name of Ivan, and Ivan went on to have you.

"Now, it is your turn to make that decision. Will you be like Tadashi, and let yourself be weak in order to become truly strong, or will you follow your father's path? The choice is yours, Laxus. I know which path I want you to take. You need to make that choice for yourself, however," Aspen finished her tale, letting Evangeline regain control. She said one last thing before Evangeline reappeared.

"Look into the eye of the storm and you shall see truth." With that, Evangeline's consciousness came back, and her body reverted back to normal. She sighed. She felt Laxus's body shaking. She wanted so badly to soothe away the turmoil he was in, but she knew this time she couldn't. Laxus would have to decide what he was going to do. A while later, Laxus had calmed, and the who sat in silence. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"It feels like a nasty storm is coming," Evangeline said softly. "We should get back to camp and pack up. We need to move our things to the cave."

"I'll be along in a bit," Laxus told her. Evangeline went to camp and found that Evergreen, Freed, and Bickslow had already packed everything up.

"To the cave?" Bickslow asked her when he saw her. She nodded.

"Laxus will be there soon. We should go," Evangeline said, turning and walking in the direction of the cave. The three other mages followed behind her. The cave was only a short walk away. Rain started to fall on the group, softly hitting their bodies. They reached the cave a few moments later, and a massive bolt of lightning seemed to crack the sky into pieces.

"It'll be a bad one," Freed muttered.

"Laxus should have been here already," Evergreen pointed out, concern in her tone. Evangeline lit a small fire while the others were setting up their sleeping bags.

"You are right, Ever. Surely he wouldn't stay out in this storm, even as a lightning dragon slayer?" Freed asked Evangeline.

"Come and sit. I have a lot to explain about where we were today and what happened," Evangeline said. The three gathered around the fire and Evangeline told the tale of Tadashi. Her friends were stunned into silence.

"So, he's out finding his truth, then," Bickslow concluded. Evangeline nodded. He then stood and went over to his sleeping bag along one side of the cave.

"We must wait for him to return before we rest," Freed insisted after Bickslow had left the area around the fire.

"No, Freed. Right now, the only thing we can do is take care of ourselves," Bickslow said, his voice echoing through the cave. His tone was hard. Evangeline's eyes softened when she looked in his direction. She knew that this hit close to home for Bickslow, as he had to go through a similar process of finding himself.

"Go to sleep, Freed, Ever. I'll be here when he gets back," Evangeline said softly. The two were hesitant but did as she said.

~_With Laxus at the beginning of the storm~_

The rain started falling softly onto him. There was something warm about it, even though the temperature had dropped drastically. He looked up to the sky and saw a massive bolt of lightning shatter the sky. He stood from the ground, still staring up at the sky.

"What are you trying to tell me?" he shouted at the sky. Another bolt of lightning raced through the clouds. The wind started blew harder, and it had started pouring.

"No answers, huh. Tell me what to do," he shouted again. More lightning formed, this time striking a tree near him.

"I'm not afraid of you!" The wind blew so hard Laxus felt like was going to be swept up in it, but he stood his ground.

"Why did you sacrifice yourself for the ones who hated you? For the ones who would have let you die when they could have saved you?" Lightning crashed down next to him. Laxus could barely keep his eyes open from the amount of rain and wind around him.

"I can't be like you, not after what I've done. There's no redeeming me. What's the point in me trying to save everyone when they wouldn't let me." This time, lightning crashed down onto Laxus. The world went white.

"You have been redeemed, Laxus. You are just like me, son," a male voice called out to him.

"Stop searching for what has always been inside of you," another voice, female, said.

"Admit your weakness, Laxus," the male voice said.

"And become strong," the female voice finished.

"Become what you were meant to be," the voices finished in unison.

The world came back to light, and Laxus was standing in the eye of a storm. In front of him, a massive yellow and black dragon stood.

"Will you accept my soul and magic as part of your being now, Laxus?" the dragon said, her voice strong, but gentle. Laxus took a deep breath before responding.

"Help me become strong enough to always protect those I love, no matter the cost to me," he said. The dragon grinned, then disappeared. Suddenly, Laxus felt a massive surge in his power. He could see each individual drop of rain as it fell from the sky around the eye of the storm. He heard the crackling of a fire nearby from the cave his precious people were in.

"Go to them, son," the male voice he had heard told him. "There is no reason to weather this storm any longer."

"Listen to this old bastard, brat," the dragon told him. "You may feel like you have to, but you've passed our tests. I'll explain more tomorrow, but for now, go back to your mate." Laxus made his way to the cave, making it inside just before the second part of the storm hit.

Evangeline ran over to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him. She had tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Laxus," she cried. He wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"Why, love? There's nothing for you to be sorry about," he told her, still holding her tightly. "I know who I am now, and I know what I must do. I will do whatever I can to protect you and everyone in our guild. Our family. No matter what comes in the future, I'll be there, ready to fight for everyone." This only made Evangeline cry harder, and suddenly Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow had joined in on Laxus and Evangeline's hug, each of them crying their own tears.

"You guys are impossible, I swear," Laxus sighed. The four other mages laughed, and they soon fell asleep all in one big group.

* * *

"Well, brat, I'm glad you finally decided to accept what remains of me," Elektra said as Laxus joined her in their own shared mindscape.

"I didn't want to, then I realized I had to," Laxus admitted. Elektra laughed.

"Of course, you did. Do you think it was coincidence that you just so happened to get my lacrima? Or that your mate has an old friend of mine sealed inside of her? Oh, innocent, narrow-sited humans. Anyway, I guess I will formally introduce myself. I am Elektra, Queen of the Lightning Dragons," Elektra said, bowing her head to him.

"Laxus Dreyar," he said, repeating her motion. Elektra paused for a moment before there was a bright light in their mindscape. Suddenly, the large dragon was gone, and in her place stood a human female. She had long, yellow hair and had a swirling black tattoo that ran down both her arms. She was wearing a sleeveless Greek-style, white dress with gold accents.

"Ah, much better. Shall we sit?" Elektra said as a table with two chairs across from each other appeared. Laxus blinked, but sat down anyway.

"Ev has never said anything about a shared mindscape being this… odd," Laxus mumbled. Elektra laughed.

"Ah, now, she is just used to it. After all, she's had Lilith sealed in her for so long that she doesn't really remember being without it. Every mindscape is different depending on each party involved. Ours is here, in the middle of the woods, because this is where we are both most comfortable. Other mindscapes are dark with the only figures being the shared consciouses," Elektra explained, sitting down across from him.

"Makes sense," Laxus shrugged.

"And now to answer some questions. I've heard some of them throughout the years, I just haven't been able to answer them. First, why do you have dragon instincts when you hadn't really accepted the lacrima. It's quite simple, really. Even though you didn't accept my power as a part of you, you did use it. As soon as you started using it, dragon characteristics have… diffused to you. You have your mate, Evangeline. You have instincts to protect her, as well as those you see as kin. You are territorial. These are all very normal for slayers. Your senses also came from that. Now that you have accepted my power and spirit as part of you, you will experience all of this much more intensely, even more so than most other dragon slayers," Elektra explained.

"Because I don't just have a magic containing lacrima, but one with a dragon's living spirit inside it," Laxus concluded. Elektra nodded.

"Indeed. Now, the next one. Why was I talking to you with Tadashi? That one gets a bit trickier. Tadashi has been waiting for you for a very long time. That storm was Tempest. It is a never-ending storm that travels around the world, and it was waiting for you. The storm is now gone, and Tadashi's soul has now crossed into the next world. He has been watching you since you were born. He loved you very much, boy, even if you never knew him. He saw himself in you. What he didn't want was for you to end up like he did: alive forever in a storm.

"You staying out in that storm and breaking down to the core of your being, letting yourself be weak, that was what showed him that you were going to fulfill his legacy. Yuri, Makarov, and Ivan all stood in the same storm, but none of them ever passed his test. You now carry his power, Laxus. You can use the power of Tempest, but you will never become the Tempest.

"I met Tadashi while I was still an unclaimed and unused lacrima. My spirit wandered, and I always wanted to be near the lightning. One day, I felt this incredible storm, one I knew as Tempest. I felt another being like me, stuck between worlds, in that storm. Intrigued, I went into it and found Tadashi. I followed Tadashi for many years, and once you were born, I followed you just as Tadashi did. I took interest in you because he did, as he was my only companion for over a hundred years. I saw what you went through, and my spirit bonded to you. That is the reason that your body didn't reject my lacrima, as well as the reason you healed from your sickness.

"From the moment my lacrima was implanted in you, protecting you was my top priority, but I couldn't do that until now. Not entirely, at least. Now, you will have full access to dragon slayer powers. My test for you was to see who you were, deep inside of you. You are still that little boy that picked the Calla Lily for a pretty little girl named Evangeline. You saw that you love, more than anything else. Love is what makes you weak, but love is also what makes you so strong," Elektra finished. Her eyes then went wide, then she smirked.

"Ready to learn, then are we? Be warned, I will kick your ass in here and yell at you in your head whenever you are being a dipshit," Elektra threatened. Laxus rolled his eyes.

"Where did you learn words like dipshit, fossil?" Laxus taunted. Elektra narrowed her eyes at him, then burst out laughing.

"Oh, kid, I love you. This is gunna be the best time I've had in such a long time," Elektra said through her laughter.

* * *

"Stand up," Elektra commanded. Laxus, who was getting the shit beaten out of him, again, did as she said. He was weak. He had little magic left, but he still stood. "Come at me again. We won't stop until you hit me with that spell."

"Dragon slayer's secret art: Raging Tempest," he cast, this time, finally, the skill connected. Elektra went flying across the forest. Although blood was dripping out the side of his mouth, Laxus still smirked.

"Gotcha," he taunted. Elektra shook her head.

"Stupid human. Now, get outta here and rest. You did take a lot of damage today, but good work. Why did this one work?" Elektra asked. This had become a common occurrence. Every time Laxus learned a new spell and hit her with it successfully, she would ask why that time worked rather than any other.

"Tadashi. It was weird, honestly. It felt like I was channeling a part of myself, but also something that wasn't really me. It didn't feel like magic," Laxus tried to explain. Elektra nodded.

"It was a Tempest skill; therefore, you could remember that link to the Lost Tempest magic. That is why it felt like Tadashi. Good job," Elektra said. "Now, go let your mate take care of you. I can feel her worrying from here." Laxus shook his head but backed out of the mindscape.

"She's pushing you really hard," Evangeline sighed when Laxus opened his eyes.

"Of course, she is. Aspen is pushing you just as hard as Elektra is pushing me," Laxus said, flinching a bit as he moved to stretch out his muscles from being stationary in the waking world for so long.

"I know, I just worry," Evangeline said, making a small block of ice and putting it on a bruise that had formed on his back.

"I know, love. You don't have to. I'll be fine, regardless of what this looks like," Laxus assured her.

"We have a week left until the team is chosen," Freed announced that night at dinner. Evangeline and Laxus looked at each other.

"Then we should head back," Evangeline said.

"Already?" Evergreen asked, surprised Evangeline would say such a thing.

"I'm getting really close at nailing a new formation, though," Bickslow complained.

"I must admit, Evangeline, that I am quite close to perfecting a new rune layering method that will be significantly faster and harder to alter," Freed said. Evangeline looked all of them in the eye, one at a time.

"Is that so?" she asked. The three nodded. She then smiled.

"Good. You passed. We will leave in four days, which leaves us three more days to train. Two days will be training, the last day will be an all-out brawl, just like how we started. Sound fair?"

* * *

The group of five mages laid on the ground after their last fight and stared up at the stars.

"Regardless of what the future holds, I am glad I got to spend this time with you," Evangeline said.

"Me too," Bickslow, Evergreen, and Freed all said at the same time. Laxus was laying with his eyes closed when Evangeline had spoken, and everyone assumed he was asleep. The four mages quickly fell asleep, and then Laxus opened his eyes and stared up at the stars, making a promise as he did so.

"I swear I will do everything I can to keep them safe."

* * *

"Time to head back?" Evangeline asked the group.

"We should have left days ago, Evvie," Evergreen whined. Evangeline laughed and shook her head.

"You did say we were going to leave three days ago. We don't have enough time to get back," Bickslow pointed out. Evergreen and Freed nodded in agreement.

"Why take transportation when you can take lightning transport?" Evangeline asked. Laxus had known her plan as he would be transporting one person while she transported two.

"Why do I have a feeling I will hate this," Freed muttered. Bickslow and Evergreen went with Evangeline and Freed went with Laxus. They arrived in front of the guild instantly. Freed did not do well with the instant transport and passed out.

"Really, Freed?" Evangeline sighed. The rest of the group echoed her sigh, then they carried Freed into the guild. Unfortunately, it seemed unusually empty.

"I think we missed it," Bickslow said. Evergreen nodded.

"There you are," Mira said as she walked over to the group. "Oh my, what happened to Freed?"

"He's a wuss. That is all," Evergreen said, rolling her eyes.

"Anyway, take him up to the infirmary, if you would. Master needs to see Ev and Laxus," Mira told the group. Laxus and Evangeline followed her up to Makarov's office. They saw that Gajeel, Juvia, and… Mystogan were there. Evangeline decided to dig around in Jellal's mind to find out why he was there. She was shocked at what she found, and wholeheartedly agreed that he needed to go and investigate.

"Stupid kids decided to show up three hours late. What am I going to do with you?" Makarov sighed. "Anyway, you may be wondering why I called you up here. There was a change in the rules this year. We are allowed to enter two teams. You will be Fairy Tail Team B."

"Why are we Team B? We are so much better than the first team," Gajeel grumbled. Laxus nodded in agreement.

"You are Team B because I say you are, brats! If you are going to complain about it so much, then I will make you a deal. If you beat Team A, they will be your slaves for a day. If they beat you, you serve them. Does that sound like a deal?" Makarov offered. The two males nodded, as well as Juvia. Evangeline and Mira didn't care, so they went along with it.

"Now, you cannot allow Team A or anyone else to know that you are going to be entered. I'd like to keep it a secret. The main rule for the competition is that you are in your hotel room by midnight in two days' time. I'd advise you get on the next train to Crocus. Now, you probably also noticed there is someone else in this room. Many of you do not trust him, but I was approached by him to allow him to be in the games. Would you like to speak about this, Jellal?"

"Indeed. In the past several years at the Grand Magic Games, I, and my guild mates, have sensed a very dark magic power. We believe it is Zeref, or Zeref's followers. I would like to enter the games with you in order to monitor it more closely, as in years past I cannot get close enough to get much more information," Jellal explained.

"Now, any more questions? If not, you all have train tickets for the one that leaves in four hours. Pack, then make it to the train. You are dismissed," Makarov said. The group left his office.

"Shall we head home, Ev?" Laxus asked, nudging her. She rolled her eyes.

"I know exactly why you are asking mister, and the answer is no. We have to get to Crocus and we both know we will get distracted otherwise. We are packing, nothing else," Evangeline said as she walked out of the guild. She felt his disappointment, but she was right. "Besides, we will have alone time when we are there."

**Okay! I rewrote a ton of this chapter because I thought I was making the training go by too fast in my original story. I also just read through all of the Fairy Tail 100 Year Quest that has been published. That heavily influenced my idea to rewrite that part at least. I really appreciate how much Laxus is getting in terms of further character development in the new series!** **As for in this story, the early part of the chapter was written right after chapter 8 was published. Chapter 10 will include the Grand Magic Games until Fairy Tail returns to Magnolia. I have not planned chapter 11 yet, so we will see where that takes me. Now, back to studying for my final that is in 8 hours :) **


	10. Present: The Grand Magic Games

**Next chapter! I'm going to try and power out two chapters over winter break… We will see how that goes. **

Hours later, the group arrived in Crocus. Evangeline and Laxus separated away from the others to adventure.

"This place hasn't changed at all," Evangeline said as she looked at the buildings lining the main street.

"I'm not surprised. Crocus was always busy," Laxus said.

"I suppose. Say, do you think that Seasons is still open?" Evangeline asked. Laxus shrugged.

"I'd assume so. Dinner?" Evangeline nodded.

"I still have the pass, you know," she said. Laxus shook his head.

"You, my love, have a hoarding problem," Laxus teased. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Mhmm, sure. I'm getting us free food at the top restaurant in Fiore, and you call me a hoarder," Evangeline said as she crossed her arms and walked in the direction of the restaurant. Laxus followed closely behind, and they arrived at Seasons shortly after. The line was outrageous, as they expected, but Evangeline showed their pass. The host seemed amazed.

"Please follow me. I will fetch the owner for you," the host hurriedly said as he sat them in a private booth.

"He'll be shocked at how young we look," Evangeline giggled to herself.

"Yeah, he'll be expecting us to look like dinosaurs," Laxus said sarcastically.

"Are you calling me old?" Evangeline said, faking offense.

"I don't know. I think I see a gray hair-" Laxus said as he reached across the table and went to touch her hair. She playfully slapped his hand away.

"My, my. Look at you two," a familiar voice said from beside them. Evangeline and Laxus turned to face the man.

"Lord Beckett. It's nice to finally get to see you again," Evangeline greeted. She held out her hand to shake his, but he grabbed it and kissed the back of it.

"It is lovely to see both of you again. When I heard what had happened to you, I was heartbroken. I've been attempting to support your guild in whatever way I could. I am delighted that you are all alive and have returned," Lord Beckett told them. He then turned to face Laxus specifically.

"And you, idiot boy, ended up divorced from this lovely flower? However, it seems you have sorted your issues," he said, casting a calculating gaze on Laxus. Laxus sighed.

"Yeah. I made several huge mistakes the last few years before we disappeared. I won't forgive myself for them, and I don't understand why she has. I have no intention of ever letting that happen again," Laxus stated. Lord Beckett held his stare for a moment longer before smiling.

"Good man. Everyone makes mistakes in life, and what matters is that you have grown from them. Now, in celebration of your return, I'll be sending out our seven course meal, on me, of course. I'll have my staff select a drink pairing for each course, as well. Welcome back, Evangeline. Laxus. Please do return, and not just here. Return Fairy Tail to its rightful position as number one in Fiore!" Lord Beckett announced.

"We will. Our friends have suffered long enough in our absence," Evangeline said. Laxus nodded. Upon seeing this, Lord Beckett left the two.

Dinner itself was amazing. The entire cost of the meal was likely close to 80,000 Jewel. The couple walked out of the restaurant and made their way to the orphan statue that Evangeline had connected with so many years ago. She went and stood next to the statue, and Laxus stayed by her side.

"You know," Evangeline started. "We only ever end up in Crocus when we are at a crossroads in our lives."

"What do you mean?" Laxus asked, curious as to what she meant.

"The first time was following my parents' deaths. The second was our anniversary when I started to lose you. Now, here we are again. Older, wiser, stronger," Evangeline trailed off.

"And you are wondering what will happen now," Laxus finished. Evangeline nodded.

"I don't know where it will lead. I have faith that everything will turn out alright, though," Evangeline smiled.

"Ever the optimist," Laxus teased. Evangeline giggled.

"One of us has to be," she said. Then, they felt a familiar magic flare a few blacks away.

"What's flame brain gotten himself into this time," Laxus muttered. Evangeline narrowed her eyes.

"I bet it has something to do with Sabertooth. Come on," Evangeline said, hurrying off to where she felt Natsu's magic.

"Ev, they aren't supposed to know we are in the city," Laxus argued, but stopped when she turned to glare at him. He sighed. "Fine, this is probably more important."

They reached the crowd and weaved their way through. Natsu was facing off with none other than Sabertooth's Twin Dragonslayers.

"How dare you kill your parents!" Natsu shouted at the two. His flame erupted from his fists. Evangeline then froze him in a block of ice.

"Natsu. You cannot go attacking people the night before the games," Evangeline stated, emotion fading from her voice. From inside his ice block, Natsu paled. He apologized, not that anyone other than Evangeline could understand.

"No, I won't let you out yet," Evangeline said, rolling her eyes. The rival dragonslayers looked at her curiously.

"And who are you?" Sting asked, narrowing his eyes at her. She turned to face the two, her eyes cold and hard.

"Some would call me the Demon Evangeline. Others would call me the Lightning Goddess. Others still would call me the Goddess of Fairy Tail. Take your pick. They are all me," she said, letting some of her dark magic leech out into the area. She wanted to ward off the two slayers before Natsu melted his way out of his trap. Rogue, the dark haired one, took a step back. She smirked. He had heard of her.

"Sting, we should leave," Rogue whispered to his friend. "She's killed hundreds without batting an eye."

"Oh really?" Sting whispered back to his friend. They didn't know Evangeline was reading their thoughts.

"She's basically a wizard saint. I doubt we could beat her, even two on one. We need to go, now," Rogue insisted.

"Why? I want to know more, now," Sting whined. Evangeline shook her head.

"Eventually you will, Sting Eucliffe. For now, listen to your friend and leave," Evangeline said, having enough of their conversation. Their eyes widened.

"How could you hear us?" Sting demanded. "Only another slayer could." Evangeline smirked and pointed to her head.

"Your thoughts are very loud, you know," was all she said. The slayers finally left, scared of who she was. Evangeline turned back to Natsu and unmelted him.

"Why did you have to do that! I wasn't going to attack them," Natsu whined. Evangeline shocked him.

"You were fighting in the middle of a street. Not a physical fight, yes, but still a fight. We don't need to get into trouble before you guys are in the games. You could get us disqualified before we even had a chance," Evangeline said. Natsu looked down.

"Sorry, Ev, I didn't think about that. I won't do it again," Natsu muttered.

"Now go back to your inn. It's nearly midnight," Evangeline said. With that, Natsu walked off, back to the place he was supposed to be.

"I guess we should head back as well," Laxus said. He had been silent the whole time, trying to get a read on how powerful the slayers were. He could feel they had a lot of magic, but he didn't think they were too much of a cause for concern. He would be able to take them both on fairly easily, but Natsu might have trouble, let alone some of the other members on Fairy Tail Team A.

"We should. I don't feel like walking all the way over there, though," Evangeline sighed. Laxus stepped up beside her and put an arm around her waist.

"Then it's a good thing I'm known as the Thunder God," he smirked. He teleported them back in front of their inn.

"Mhmm, whatever you say," Evangeline said sarcastically. The two went up to their room and found the rest of their team already there.

"What took you two so long? We thought you wouldn't make it in time," Gajeel grumbled. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Stop being so dramatic. We still have another 15 minutes before this starts," Evangeline retorted.

"She also just saved Team A from getting disqualified because of Natsu," Laxus added.

"Oh, what did he do now," Mira sighed.

"He decided to pick a fight with Sabertooth's dragonslayers," Evangeline said. Mira shook her head.

"Sometimes… Oh well, at least you stopped him. But now he knows we are in the city," Mira said. Evangeline shrugged.

"I don't think he will assume we are in the games. If anything, he will think we are here to cheer them on. Poor guy is in for a shock when he finds out," Evangeline said, then stopped. Mira and Laxus laughed.

"More lightning puns, Ev? I thought we moved past this," Laxus teased. Evangeline stuck her tongue out.

"I don't wanna hear it! It just happens, okay! I can't control it. The puns just come to me," Evangeline said dramatically.

"So, we still have 10 minutes. What should we do in the mean time?" Mira asked. Everyone else shrugged.

"Juvia thinks that Evangeline should see if all of Team A is at their inn," Juvia suggested. Evangeline nodded.

"Probably a good idea," Evangeline said. She closed her eyes and felt out for the magic signatures of her friends. She furrowed her brows when she felt them all at the inn except Wendy, who was… near the palace?

"Something happened to Wendy. Elfman is in her place at the inn. Her magic is really weak," she said, very concerned.

"Someone attacked her?" Gajeel growled. Evangeline nodded.

"That's all I can assume. She would never get into an intentional fight, and her magic is dangerously low. Lissy is there with her now, though, so I presume she will be getting Wendy to Porlyusica," Evangeline said. Laxus had a dark look in his eyes.

"When we find who did it…" he said, not needing to finished his sentence. Evangeline put a hand on his shoulder.

"We will all make sure they pay. No one messes with my ducklings and gets away with it," Evangeline said darkly.

"You haven't called them that in a long time," Mira commented. Evangeline blinked.

"No, I suppose I haven't. I guess I'm having a hard time calling her my little sister since she's the same age as Romeo, and Romeo will always be my baby," Evangeline sighed. The rest of the mages in the room laughed.

"You'll get over it eventually," Laxus said. Then, a bell tolled.

"Attention guild mages of Crocus! The time for the Grand Magic Games is upon us. This year, there are 113 teams that have entered. Because of the vast number of entries, we have decided that there will be a preliminary qualifier for the Games! Please prepare yourselves for the game: Labyrinth! The first 8 teams to make it to the center of the maze will be our participants this year. Now, being!" A voice announced, and suddenly a stairway into a massive maze appeared. The group took off.

"I can hear Sabertooth mages. They have the center in sight," Evangeline said as the group made their way through the twisting maze in the sky. She stopped them.

"Why are we stopping?" Gajeel growled, wanting to keep moving since they needed to qualify fast.

"Grab onto me. I'll teleport us to the place they were just in. They were first," Evangeline said hurriedly. The four other mages quickly grabbed onto her and she teleported them to the center with her lightning. There, they found a doorway and a man in a pumpkin suit.

"Ah, Fairy Tail Team B! Welcome to the finish line. Congratulations, you have qualified for the Games. You are in second place. Please proceed through the door and back to your inn. Keep your qualification a secret," the pumpkin said, extending a hand to the door. The group proceeded through, as they were told, and ended up back in their room at the inn.

"Well that was a lot easier than I expected," Mira said. Juvia and Gajeel nodded.

"I'm not surprised. We have good trackers on this team. I just wonder how Sabertooth finished before us," Laxus mumbled before flopping down onto one of the beds, pulling Evangeline with him. She sighed.

"I guess we are going to bed now. Goodnight everyone," Evangeline said before she yawned. Mira then yawned after her.

"Sounds like a good idea. Goodnight everyone," Mira said as she laid down on her own bed.

"Goodnight."

* * *

"I want them to start announcing already," Evangeline complained. Laxus shook his head.

"Be patient. Besides, the more time the other team doesn't know about us, the bigger their reaction will be," Laxus said. Evangeline paused at the idea.

"Yeah, probably. Natsu will probably try and fight us," Evangeline sighed. Mira gigged.

"You aren't wrong there, Ev," she said.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! I am pleased to welcome you to this years Grand Magic Games!" an announcer said, and the crowd outside erupted in thunderous applause. Evangeline shivered.

"So many people," she whimpered. Laxus put his arms around her.

"Since when are you afraid of crowds?" he asked her.

"Since now," she said. The mages laughed at her response.

"There were 113 teams that registered for this years Grand Magic Games, so we were forced to do a preliminary! These are the 8 teams that qualified! In 8th place, here to return from their fall from greatness, Fairy Tail!" the announcer said, and the crowd started booing. Evangeline found herself glaring out the tunnel towards the field.

"Ev, reign in you magic," Laxus sighed. She stopped releasing her magic, and the crowd above her suddenly felt a lot better.

"They will pay for thinking we are nothing," Evangeline grumbled.

"We never said they wouldn't," Gajeel said. "We will show 'em."

"That we will," Mira said confidently.

"Juvia thinks that there is no one here that can beat Fairy Tail," Juvia added. The announcer had kept announcing guilds during their discussion. The third place guild was then called.

"It's this guild's first time in the games! Please welcome our third place qualifiers, Raven Tail!"

Evangeline froze, as did Laxus. They didn't have much time to be frozen, though, as they were next.

"And in second place, a surprise! Fairy Tail Team B!" Team B walked out of their tunnel into the colosseum.

"Oi, what gives!" Natsu shouted at them and ran over to them. "We are the team in the games! Why are you here!"

"We're here incase you fucked up, Flame Brain," Gajeel taunted.

"Hey guys," Lucy greeted as she walked over to them. The rest of the team was right behind her.

"That's new for you, Ev," Gray said as he looked over Evangeline. She was wearing a new outfit. She had on long leather pants with two sword holsters at her waist, though neither was being used. She also had on a black, one-sleeved leather top with a dragon scale pattern in it. Each scale had a tiny point of light on it, each being a micro-lacrima. Over top of that, she had a black cloak. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, and she was wearing the earrings Gray had given her for her 18th birthday, as well her her dragon opal necklace.

"Yeah, I destroyed so many clothes while training that I needed to upgrade. These are all magic resistant, at least enough that I can use them to train," she said, holding up her hand that was partially covered by the leather sleeve of her top.

"Why dragon scales?" Natsu asked, curious. Evangeline smirked.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out. I want to fight you, Natsu," Evangeline told him. Natsu grinned.

"I want to fight you too, Evangeline," he said. He was serious. After all, he had used her full name.

"Finally, our first place guild, the guild that has been on top since the games began, the one and only… SABERTOOTH!" The crowd went wild as the team from Sabertooth made their way onto the field.

"Better watch out, Fairies. Just because there are more of you doesn't mean anything. We will still win," Sting said as he walked over to the group. Evangeline faced him straight on and her eyes flashed red.

"We will see about that," she said.

"This year will be a battle! Each day, there will be a group event where each team will send one member to compete. After this event, there will be one on one battles. Now, for our first event: Hidden! Teams, please choose one member to stay on the field. The rest shall proceed up to their balcony."

Gray was the first to volunteer from Fairy Tail Team A, and so Juvia decided she was going to volunteer as well.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this," Laxus muttered. Evangeline shook her head.

"Have faith in her," Evangeline scolded. Of course, only minutes later, she ate her words.

"Poor Juvia," Mira sighed. Gajeel shook her head.

"I swear, that woman is insane," he grumbled. Evangeline was staring intently at Rufus, who was on top of a building in the Hidden game. She realized what he was about to do but was too late to warn Gray and Juvia. The game ended with Juvia in 7th and Gray in 8th.

"It's okay, Juvia. The odds were against you from the start," Evangeline told the woman after she returned to the balcony. She was sulking.

"Juvia apologizes. She couldn't resist," Juvia said, looking at the ground.

"Chin up. We have four more days, as well as the one on one battle today," Mira said. The group then turned their attention to the field, where the first of the one on one battles was being announced.

"The first match of the day will be between Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail Team A and Flare Corona of Raven Tail! Competitors, please come to the field." Evangeline narrowed her eyes.

"I have a bad feeling about this one," Evangeline said.

"Why? Bunny-girl can handle her own pretty well," Gajeel said. Evangeline shook her head.

"It's not that. Raven Tail being here is given me a really bad feeling in general, and since she's fighting one, I can't help but think something will go wrong," Evangeline explained.

"She will be fine. Let's just watch," Mira suggested. Evangeline sighed, but did as Mira said. All was going well until Lucy was suddenly tangled in Flare's hair and wasn't fighting back.

"Why isn't she fighting back?" Laxus asked.

"Something has to be wrong," Mira said worriedly. They then heard Natsu yelling out from the stands. He was standing near Askua. Evangeline's eyes went dark.

"She dared threaten a child over a fight?" she said darkly. Lucy then tried to use Urano Metria, and then the spell didn't go off. Evangeline looked up at the stands and saw Obra watching the battle, then stared her in the eye. Evangeline felt his magic, and then connected the dots.

"He did it. He did this to Lucy. He did this to Wendy. I'll kill him," Evangeline said, her voice turning almost demonic. Aspen's power was seeping through the seal, and Evangeline started gaining some of her features. Laxus grabbed onto her before she did anything, though.

"Evangeline. We will get them, but we can't right now. Stand down," he commanded. Evangeline glared at him, but let Aspen's power dissipate. Two more matched occurred. The first was between Ren Akatsuki of Blue Pegasus and Ariana Webb of Mermaid Heel. Ren won the battle. The second was Warcry of Quatro Cerberus and Orga Nanagear of Sabertooth. Orga won the battle easily. Laxus was intrigued by his black lightning.

"I want to fight him," he said. Evangeline rolled her eyes. He then gave her a look.

"You can't do that. You wanted to fight Natsu earlier," Laxus said.

"That's different. Natsu is a guild member. Orga is an enemy," Evangeline argued. They were about to continue when Mira shushed them.

"The last battle of the day will be Evangeline Dreyar of Fairy Tail Team B against Jura Neekis of Lamia Scale! Now, this battle is anticipated to get highly destructive, so we have created a perimeter around the edge of the battlefield to prevent any damage from coming to the audience."

"Well this will be fun," Evangeline said, getting a spark in her eye. The rest of her team shivered.

"Don't kill him, please. He's an ally," Laxus sighed. Evangeline walked away waving a hand.

"I won't, I promise," she said. She made her way onto the battlefield a moment later.

"Now, I can say this battle is probably going to be the most fun one to watch of the day. I have known Evangeline since she was a small child. Never in a million years would I dare to fight her, even if I was still in my prime. She is known as the Lightning Empress, a title that came after she created the spell Lightning's Heavenly Herald's Purgatory Ray: a total annihilation spell," Yajima said from the commentator booth.

"My money is on Jura. He is a Wizard Saint, after all. Regardless of how much power Evangeline may have, it's doubtful to me that she would be able to pull off a win against a saint," Jenny said, flipping her hair. Fairy Tail all deadpanned after her statement. She obviously had never heard of Evangeline before.

At the Sabertooth balcony, Rufus went wide eyes.

"What's wrong?" Yukino asked her guildmate.

"Evangeline Aspen Dreyar. Formerly a Hastings. Credited with the death of Hades, master of the dark guild Grimoire Heart, as well as over one hundred dark wizards. She created the most powerful lightning spell currently known: Lightning's Heavenly Herald's Purgatory Ray. This spell is made of red lightning and creates a storm that can cover the entirety of the continent. It's considered a SSS-Class spell, unable to be performed by any other mage at this time. Also, container of the Demon Goddess Lilith, which is where she gets the title Demon Evangeline. Also proficient in Light and Dark magic, as well as swordplay," Rufus said, recalling all the information he had learned about her.

"Red lightning? I want to try it," Orga said as he stared down at the field. He didn't think she was likely as strong as Rufus's overview made her seem. Rogue, on the other hand, shivered.

"She's a Fairy. If she was any good, she'd be with us," Sting said.

* * *

Evangeline stood across from Jura at the center of the battlefield.

"It's been a long time since I've gotten to fight all out," Jura said as Evangeline took a fighting stance. Evangeline smirked.

"Same here. I'm interested to see the power of a Wizard Saint," Evangeline said. She requipped her cloak into her storage dimension, and her magic nullifier sword appeared at her waist. In the stands, Laxus sighed.

"She wasn't even going 100% when she was fighting me," he said dejectedly.

"She didn't want to kill you, that's why," Gajeel said.

"Still, though. She's a fucking monster," Laxus said. The rest of the mages nodded in agreement.

Back on the field, the pumpkin man announced for the mages to begin their battle.

"Rock Fist," Jura cast, making the first move. Evangeline dodged effortlessly.

"Interesting for you to make the first move, Jura-san," Evangeline commented.

"I have heard stories of you power, Lady Evangeline, and I do not wish to get hit by any of it," Jura said. Evangeline smirked.

"I apologize, then, for what I am about to do," she said cryptically. Suddenly, the lacrimas on her top started to glow yellow before they engulfed her in a yellow flash. When the light died down seconds later, she was standing with a yellow armored suit on with a bracer on her right arm, the same one as the sleeve. Around her head was a golden band.

"What is that?" Gray asked. Erza was staring intently at the field.

"It seems to me that she has somehow come across one of the most powerful magical armors in the world. I believe this is Demon Goddess's Armor, which would make sense, as the Demon Goddess is sealed inside of her. Lilith wore this armor. It can become whatever the wearer wants in the situation. This armor likely amplifies her lightning magic," Erza explained.

"And the consequence of her wearing it?" Gray followed up. Erza shook her head.

"There will be none for her, as Lilith is part of her. If any other mortal had that armor on, it would lead to a descent into Hell," Erza put bluntly.

"This is the Armor of The Demon Goddess," Evangeline said, confirming Erza's suspicion. "This armor takes whatever form I need it to. It was created in a time where magic ruled all, and it will bend only to my whims." Jura narrowed his eyes.

"Then I suppose I shall have to get serious," he said as he took on a fighting stance. Evangeline started sparking red lightning around her.

"Raiko: Red Lightning," she cast as she was suddenly in front of Jura and sent him flying.

"Rock Fist," Jura called out, moving his original skill to go after Evangeline. She disappeared from view.

"Do you really think that would be able to catch me?" She said from behind him. He went to send a punch at her, but she was already gone. He turned back and saw her in front of him.

Jura then took up a new stance.

"Sema!" he called out, and the sky became dark. Evangeline could see a large meteor approaching her from miles away.

"God of Lightning, Bend to thy whim: Zeus's Blade!" Evangeline cast. Lightning gathered in the sky and struck down on the meteor in the form of a blade. The meteor turned to ashes and blew away in the wind. Jura was stunned.

"No one has ever countered that before. I guess you aren't just anyone, though, Lady Evangeline," Jura said.

"One more attack each? We are running out of time," Evangeline said. Jura nodded.

"One attack to end it all," he agreed. Evangeline glowed again, this time from the sheer amount of magic she was using. They sky got darker, and lightning started racing around in the clouds. It was still yellow, which relieved everyone who knew what she was capable of.

Jura got ready to cast his spell as did Evangeline.

"Let the eyes of the dragon judge your heart: Elektra's Lingering Soul," Evangeline cast.

"Rumbling Mt. Fuji!" Jura cast as the same time.

From Evangeline's spell, a massive dragon made of pure lightning swooped out of the clouds and crashed onto Jura at the same time that a massive light engulfed Evangeline from Jura's spell. The light died down, and the clouds parted. The arena was covered in dust from the final spells that had been used. They were all anxiously waiting to see who had won. When the dust cleared, many were shocked.

Evangeline stood unharmed in a suit of black scale armor with a blood-red cape attached to it, and she had a black crown atop her head. Jura lay unconscious across the battlefield from her. She transformed her armor back to its original state.

"The winner of the battle is Evangeline Dreyar of Fairy Tail!"

The crowd exploded. They had never witnessed anything so exciting in their lives. If that was what they could see from Fairy Tail, then they were anxious to see what else they could accomplish. Evangeline gave the Fairy Tail signal from the center of the field, and the rest of Fairy Tail followed suit. She then stared right up at the Sabertooth balcony and smirked, her eyes flashing red and her hair flashing black. Sting finally understood why Rogue was afraid of her. She was a monster.

* * *

"How the fuck did you learn how to do that," Gajeel cornered Evangeline as she came back to the balcony her team was at.

"My bond with Aspen is stronger, therefore I am able to use more of her magic without having to have her take over. She is blending her soul with mine, rather than one of us being wholly in control at a time. You could say we are now the Demon Goddess Evangeline Lilith," Evangeline shrugged.

"And the lightning dragon?" Gajeel asked. He was staring at her intensely. Evangeline didn't feel threatened, though. She looked over to Laxus, and he sighed.

"That would be because of me," he started. "I'll explain more when we are back at the inn. Too many ears here."

"Fine," Gajeel conceded. The group returned to their inn together, as the events of the day were over. When they got back to their room, Laxus started telling everyone what had happened during the three months he was training with Evangeline and the Thunder Legion.

"Evangeline had strengthened her connection with Aspen enough so that they could merge their souls, and then Aspen pulled both of them into the mindscape that Elektra and I share. That's where she saw Elektra. She created that spell right after meeting Elektra. Elektra loved it, too," Laxus sighed.

"So basically, you two fucks are basically insane," Gajeel said. They shrugged.

"Yeah, basically," Evangeline agreed. Gajeel shook his head.

"Monsters, both of ya," he muttered before leaving the room. Mira stared intently at Evangeline.

"You can merge souls with Aspen," she said. Evangeline nodded.

"The strength of the seal is weakening, and our bond is strengthening. There will come a time where either I have to reseal her and lose this progress, merge her completely with my soul, or she will die. I'm trying to find another option that involves removing the curse that's been on her for centuries. She cannot survive without a host or being sealed into something due to the curse. I'd like to undo it so that she can live on her own again," Evangeline explained. Mira frowned.

"And if you can't?"

"Aspen told me that she'd rather I merge her soul with mine entirely," Evangeline admitted. She merged her soul with Aspen's so Aspen could put her two cents in.

"I'd rather become mortal and stay the rest of that life with her than ever be forced back into an object or a seal. I'd also rather not just die outright," Aspen said.

"I want to figure out a way to remove the curse. I've been trying really hard to find anything about it, but at this point I've hit a dead end. I need to talk to Hibiki and see if Archive has anything," Evangeline said. Her soul was still merged with Aspen's.

"You should ask him this week sometime, then. He'd be more than willing to help you," Mira said. Evangeline nodded.

"At least he doesn't hit on me," Evangeline sighed. Mira giggled while Laxus growled a little bit.

"He better not," Laxus said.

"Anyway. We should head over to the other inn and see how everyone else is doing. I have a feeling they will be intoxicated and useless," Evangeline sighed.

* * *

Sure enough, everyone was severely intoxicated.

Evangeline sighed. Laxus was beside her, getting drunk as well. Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow were also trashed.

"I don't know why I expected anything else," she mumbled to herself. She saw someone walking across the bar that she didn't recognize, and he was holding… Cana's bra? She narrowed her eyes at the man that was walking away.

"Bacchus Groh," she muttered. "I'm not surprised. I have a bad feeling about this now though."

"Babe, why aren't you drinking," Laxus said, clearly intoxicated as he swung an arm over her shoulder.

"Because someone in the guild needs to be sober. Hell, not even Wendy is right now! Oi! Who gave babies alcohol! I'll kill you!" Evangeline raged as she realized both Wendy and Romeo were drunk.

"Calm down, it's fine. They'll be fine. It's practice for when they get older and they'll need to party with us all the time," Laxus slurred. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"It's time to go back to the room now," Evangeline said. Laxus followed her out of the bar, and thankfully they made it back to their inn fairly quickly. Laxus passed out as soon as they got back. Evangeline shook her head. He'd have a killer hangover tomorrow.

Again, she was right. Laxus felt like he was dying.

"Why do you let me drink," he groaned. He had a pillow over his face because the light was too bright in the room. She had the curtains pulled and the lights were off.

"Because you wouldn't listen to me anyway," Evangeline said. Laxus groaned again.

"Use inside voice, too loud," he whined. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"I'm talking normally. You need to stop being a man-child and get our ass out of bed. We have to be at the arena in two hours," Evangeline said before she left the room. She went back to the other inn and found everyone from Fairy Tail passed out still. She found two pans and started loudly banging them together. Everyone groaned.

"Why so loud, Evvie," Mira whined.

"Rise and shine, ye drunks! We have day two of the Grand Magic Games today! You have two hours to get ready or else I will zap you into next year!" Evangeline announced as she left and went back to her room at the other inn.

The good news was that Laxus was out of bed and seemed somewhat better. Freed was there as well.

"Anti-hangover rune?" she asked. The two males nodded. "You should probably put one on everyone else, too."

"They don't deserve it," Freed said. Evangeline shook her head.

"At least on our other team, and the rest of my team. The rest can be hungover fucks if they want to be," Evangeline said. Freed nodded.

"Very well. I will see you at the arena," Freed said as he left the room.

"No more drinking that heavily during the games," Evangeline said as she sent a sharp look at Laxus. He nodded.

"Probably for the best."

* * *

The second day of the Grand Magic Games started with a game called Chariot. Gajeel went after he saw Natsu was going for Team A.

"It's called Chariot. It's transportation," Evangeline deadpanned as soon as the game started.

"This is embarrassing," Mira sighed. Laxus nodded.

"This is why I didn't go," he said, shaking his head. Mira looked over to him.

"You get motion sickness too?" she asked. Laxus nodded shamefully.

"Don't tell anyone else. I'd like to keep it as much of a secret as I can," he mumbled. Evangeline laughed.

"Oh, hush. It's not a bad thing," she said. Laxus looked at her.

"Whatever you say," he said, shaking his head. They went back to watching the game. Sting, Natsu, and Gajeel were all tied in the back.

"Why do you try so hard?" Sting asked the two Fairy Tail mages.

"Because our family suffered for seven years while we were gone. We have to try, and we have to win because they suffered without us. We need to repay them for all they've done while we were gone. We owe it to them to win," Natsu said, gathering more energy and making it across the finish line before Gajeel, and lastly Sting.

"How is Natsu so good with words?" Mira pondered. Laxus looked at Evangeline.

"Yeah, that would likely be my doing. I was the one that talked to him most when he joined," Evangeline sighed. "It's not a bad thing, though. Natsu's words have a lot of weight to them when he wants them to."

The games then went into the first match of the day. Toby Horhorta was against Kurohebi. They made a bet that if Kurohebi won, Toby would tell him his deepest secret. If Toby won, Kurohebi would tell him his real name. Kurohebi won, and everyone was watching curiously.

"My secret is… I lost my sock and I can't find it. It's been three months," Toby said tearfully. Kurohebi reached towards Toby and took the sock from around his neck. Toby gasped, apparently not knowing that's where it was.

"Tha-" Toby started, but stopped when he saw what Kurohebi had done. The man had shred his sock.

"The more precious something is, the more I wish to destroy it," Kurohebi said before he left the field. Toby started bawling, and the audience was angry.

"When I get my hands on that snake, I'm going to pop is stupid tiny head off," Evangeline seethed. The rest of Fairy Tail Team B nodded in agreement.

"I'm an asshole, but that takes the cake," Gajeel said, glaring at the Raven Tail balcony.

"We will get them later. For now, we need to focus on the next match," Mira said, directing their attention back to the field.

"The second match of the day will be… Elfman Strauss of Fairy Tail Team A and Bacchus Groh of Quatro Cerberus!"

"Oh dear," Mira sighed. Gajeel and Juvia looked at her oddly.

"Juvia wonders why Mira is worried," Juvia said.

"Bacchus is an S-Class mage. Elfman is not. Depending on the circumstances, Bacchus could be a good match for me even," Evangeline said. Gajeel blinked.

"That fucking drunk is actually strong?" Gajeel asked. Mira, Evangeline, and Laxus nodded.

"Elfman is good, but I don't know if he will be able to pull this off," Mira sighed. Evangeline put a hand on her shoulder.

"It'll be alright. We just need to have faith in him," Evangeline said, and the group turned their attention back to the field.

Bacchus and Elfman were going at in, and the two decided to make a bet. Elfman wanted Quatro Cerberus to change their name to Quatro Puppy for the remainder of the games if he won. Unfortunately, Bacchus wanted Lisanna, Mirajane, and Evangeline if he won.

"It won't happen," Evangeline seethed. "I'll kill that little fucker before he gets anywhere near me."

"Elfman will win. He has to," Mira said. Laxus was watching the match, and Evangeline could feel his magic start to leech out. She wrapped her arms around him.

"Elfman will win, don't worry," Evangeline told him.

"I won't believe it until it happens," he said, putting his arms protectively around her. He would kill Bacchus if he tried anything, and he'd have no remorse.

The battle ended with a massive cloud of dust. Everyone was waiting to see what happened. Bacchus fell. Elfman won. The crowd went wild, and everyone in Fairy Tail relaxed. Mira started crying and Laxus pulled her into his hug with Evangeline.

"I wouldn't have let anything happen to you, Lis, or Ev. I'm just glad that's over," Laxus told Mira.

"Hate to interrupt here, but Mira, you got called," Gajeel told the group. They broke away and saw it was Mira against Jenny Realight of Blue Pegasus.

"What better to do to get your spirits back up than a posing battle?" Evangeline winked at Mira. Mira nodded and made her way down to the field.

Mira and Jenny made a bet themselves, deciding that the loser of the battle will appear nude in the next issue of Sorcerer's Weekly.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," Evangeline smiled.

"And why is that?" Laxus asked her.

"I'm going to head down there and join in. Juvia, you should come too!" Evangeline said, dragging the other female with her.

"Ah, I was about to tell them to go down there. Evangeline must have read my mind," a voice said appearing on Team B's balcony. The males jumped.

"Ah, no need to be afraid of a ghost! This will be fun. Enjoy it," Mavis said before she disappeared again, likely off to Team A's balcony.

Evangeline and Juvia made their way onto the field and found themselves in bikinis.

"Evvie! Juvia!" Mira called out to them. They walked over to where Mira was. Juvia then turned her attention to trying to impress Gray.

"This is evil of you, Ev," Mira laughed. Evangeline winked.

"I know. He deserves the punishment," Evangeline said. Mira shook her head. The females appeared in a new bikini. Mermaid Heel, Lamia Scale, and Fairy Tail Team A's females made their way onto the field.

"School Girl!" was the next theme.

"Bondage!"

"Cats!"

"Glasses!"

"Wedding!" This time, the males made their way to the field to join their female counterparts. Evangeline was in a dress that she didn't really love, as it wasn't hers.

"Someone looks unhappy," Laxus said from beside her. She turned to face him.

"This dress is ugly," she sighed. Laxus laughed.

"Just because it isn't your dress doesn't make it ugly. I think you are beautiful," he said, pulling her into a deep kiss. The audience whistled at this. They broke apart and Evangeline scanned the field. Lucy had just been dropped on top of Natsu, Gajeel was scaring away Jet and Droy from Levy, and Gray and Lyon were fighting over Juvia.

"Well, I guess this is about right," Evangeline said, shaking her head.

"I do have to say. Lucy and Natsu are better together than Lisanna and Natsu," Laxus told her. Evangeline turned to him and blinked.

"Did you just admit you have a ship?" Evangeline said in disbelief.

"I think I did," Laxus sighed. His wife had rubbed off in him too much. Another bathing suit round had been called, then the leader of Lamia Scale decided to join in. The mood in the arena came crashing back down.

"Well, I can't ever unsee that," Evangeline shivered.

"You think it's bad for you. It's worse for me," Laxus grumbled. Evangeline laughed.

"Oh, I'll make up for that tonight," she told him.

"Oh, really now?" Laxus asked, putting an arm around her waist.

"I got us another room for the night," Evangeline said. She was about to continue when someone cleared their throat.

"Ya know, I don't need to know what you fucks do at night," Gajeel grumbled. Evangeline blushed and hid her face in Laxus's chest. Laxus laughed and shook his head.

"The final outfit of the competition is battle form!" the announcer called. Mirajane used her Satan Soul: Sitri form.

"Well, poor Jenny has to pose nude for Sorcerer's Weekly now," Evangeline sighed.

"Jenny shouldn't have made that bet," Laxus said. Gajeel nodded.

"Never underestimate the demons of Fairy Tail," Gajeel said. "She thought Jura would win yesterday, too."

"She's not the brightest person in the world, that's for sure," Evangeline sighed.

"Mirajane wins! The last match oft eh day will be Kagura Mikazuchi of Mermaid Heel against Yukino Agria of Sabertooth!"

"This won't end well," Evangeline murmured.

"Why do you say that?" Gajeel asked. He didn't know why she was calling it already.

"Kagura is on the same level as Erza in terms of sword fighting ability. Her sword is Legendary as well. Archenemy. She doesn't even need to draw it to slice things up. Yukino won't win. I only hope she doesn't make the bet the is thinking about making," Evangeline said worriedly.

"What bet does she want to make?" Gajeel asked.

"Their lives."

* * *

"I have to say, that was incredible. I just hope Yukino is alright," Mira said.

"Kagura isn't doing anything. Sabertooth, though. That's where the trouble may come in. Regardless, it's out of our hands now. I don't know what will happen," Evangeline sighed. Laxus decided to pick Evangeline up and throw her over his shoulder at this point.

"We'll see you guys later," he said, then teleported them back to the inn.

"Well. It's a good thing we are all going to the other inn. Anyway, now that they are gone… Has anyone noticed that Evangeline is like… Different?" Mira asked hesitantly. The rest of the group paused.

"She is. She's less optimistic and much less of the 'Oh I like everything" person she used to be," Gajeel said slowly. Mira nodded in agreement.

"I'm wondering if part of it is her soul merge with Aspen, but, still, I think something else is going on," Mira insisted.

"We'll figure it out eventually," Gajeel concluded.

"I need to dig! I must know!" Mira exclaimed. Gajeel shook his head.

"Best not to pry with her right now, especially since something isn't right with her."

* * *

Evangeline woke up the next morning with Laxus's arms wrapped around her. He tightened his hold on her.

"We gotta get up," Evangeline mumbled. Laxus shook his head.

"I don't want to," he grumbled into her neck. Evangeline laughed and shook her head.

"Mira and the rest will come barging in here in five minutes if we aren't up and getting ready. I don't feel on them walking in on us like this," Evangeline told him. He groaned, but let her go.

"Fine," he complained. She turned around and gave him a quick kiss.

"Good. Now start getting ready," Evangeline said as she went into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Sure enough, five minutes later, the other part of Fairy Tail Team B showed up at their door and knocked.

"We're up. We'll meet you downstairs for breakfast," Laxus answered without opening the door. He heard Gajeel snickering to himself but ignored it. Evangeline walked out of the bathroom with an "I told you so" look on her face.

"You don't even have to say it. You are always right," Laxus sighed. Evangeline laughed.

"Your turn. Make it fast, I want food," Evangeline groaned at the thought of food. Laxus rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say, love."

* * *

Fairy Tail Team B waited on their balcony for the third day of the games to start. The first and second days had held many surprises, and they weren't sure if they were ready for more. The group game of the day was called Pandemonium. Evangeline volunteered for her team, and Erza went for Fairy Tail Team A.

"There are 100 monsters in the castle! Monsters range from D-Class all the way up to the single S-Class monster. Each competitor will state how many monsters they will take on, and we will continue each round until the game is over. To determine the order, we will draw sticks."

Evangeline drew number 8, and saw that Erza drew number 1.

"Well, this is over already," Evangeline sighed. "And I wanted a chance to kill some."

"Why are you saying its already over? The game hasn't even started yet," one of the other mages stated. Evangeline shook her head.

"This was over the moment Erza drew number 1," Evangeline said proudly.

"I will challenge all 100 monsters!" Erza announced. Chapti, the pumpkin announcer, choked.

"All 100? Are you certain?" he asked hesitantly. Erza nodded.

"I will challenge all 100 for Fairy Tail!" Erza then made her way into the castle, and the lacrimavision showed all the went on inside. Erza fought her way through the monsters, cutting them down without mercy. She was getting scraped up and cut, but she did not back down. Finally, the last monster was a small eye that ended up being the S-Class monster. She defeated it anyway, and made her way out of the castle, her sword held high above her head. Evangeline smiled at her friend.

"What an amazing show! Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail Team A defeated the entirety of Pandemonium by herself, all in the name of her guild! Please give us a few moments to decide how the rest of the competitors will be ranked.

"Erza, you should go up to the infirmary," Evangeline suggested. Erza shook her head.

"I will wait here until you have competed. Regardless of if we are on different teams in the games, we are still one guild," Erza told her. Evangeline hugged Erza gently so as to not disturb her wounds further.

"Thankfully, due to Lahar from the magic counsel, we have a Magic Power Finder! These are used in training the Rune Knights. Please send an attack at the MPF in the order of your number sticks."

Millianna of Mermaid Heel was up first. She scored a 365 on the MPF. Lahar seemed impressed with the number, but no one had anything to compare it to. Second to go was Nobarly of Quatro Puppy, and he scored 124. Third to go was Obra of Raven Tail, who seemed to almost peck it and got a 4. At this, Evangeline narrowed her eyes. He was hiding something. Fourth to go was Hibiki Lates of Blue Pegasus, and he scored an 84. He decided to try and get pity from Erza, who had none to give.

"Hibiki! What was that? You must train harder, for that was a disappointment. Do not grovel and spend your energy on training," Erza scolded. Hibiki had tears streaming from his eyes.

"Yes, Titania," he said as he crawled away. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"He's so intelligent, but yet he chooses to be this," she sighed. Erza nodded.

"He would be much better off if he applied himself," Erza said.

Next to go was Orga Nanagear of Sabertooth, and he scored a 3,825 on the MPF. This seemed to really surprised the audience, as no one had had a score in the thousands yet. After Orga was Jura of Lamia Scale, and he scored a whopping 8,544. Finally, it was Evangeline's turn.

"I will ask what Jura did. May I be serious?" Evangeline said, emotion leaving her voice.

"Of course," Chapti told her.

"Then I will have to ask everyone to stand back," she said, and her armor glowed. She decided to do a full merge with Aspen and use a dark lightning spell they had created. Her armor ended up being black and yellow leather armor with a black band around her head. In her hand, she held a yellow-gold rod that was about three feet long and about 2 centimeters in diameter. The sky got dark, and Fairy Tail was worried she would use her main Ace.

"Glory to the light that guides us through the dark. Let me consume your power: Lilith's All-Consuming Strike!" Evangeline said, her voice sounding darker, more like her demon. From the clouds came a pitch-black bolt of lightning that struck the MPF, and it shattered. Evangeline went back to her normal form, separating her soul from Aspen's again.

"Oops," she said sheepishly. The crowd then went wild, as that counted as a 9,999 on the MPF.

"Absolutely incredible! Fairy Tail has shown us all what the bonds of friendship mean. What will they do throughout the rest of the games? Who knows!"

* * *

Evangeline escorted Erza to the infirmary to make sure she got there, then Evangeline made her way to the Fairy Tail Team B balcony. On her way, however, she was stopped by someone unexpected.

"How did you do that?" Sting Eucliffe asked her. She blinked.

"Do what?"

"That spell. I felt the amount of magic, and then your magic changed. Your scent changed," he asked, confused.

"My demon, known to you likely as the Demon Goddess Lilith. We can merge our souls. As for the magic, that's all mine. My parents were both mages, and I trained hard my whole life. I also have a magic that lets me be constantly training, basically. Now, my turn. What happened to Yukino?" Evangeline asked. Sting flinched.

"She was expelled," he mumbled. Evangeline held out her hand.

"Show me," she said. He furrowed his brows in confusion.

"I have memory magic that allows me to see your memories. I'd rather not do so by force," Evangeline told him. He nodded slowly, then took her hand. He pulled up what happened last night. Evangeline was furious.

"I'll kill him," Evangeline said, her dark, demonic voice returning. Her eyes flashed red, and her hair started to turn black. She took her hand from his and turned away from him to find Jiemma.

"No!" Sting yelled out. Evangeline paused and looked back at him.

"No?" she said mockingly.

"It'll be me. I'll kill him. Not you. You don't have the right after all he's done to me, to Rogue, to everyone in that guild," Sting said, feigning confidence. In truth, he was scared shitless. Evangeline knew it, too. However, she appreciated the fact that he had stood up to her regardless of the fact that he was terrified. She let Aspen's soul go and turned back into herself.

"Very well, Sting Eucliffe. I will take my leave now," Evangeline said, raising a hand and waving without facing him. She made her way to her balcony and left Sting standing in the hallway.

"Evangeline Dreyar. What are you?" Sting asked the empty hall. He then made his way back to the Sabertooth balcony.

* * *

"There you are! You've already missed the first fight, and the second one is going now," Mira breathed out. "I was worried something might have happened."

"I felt your magic flare. What happened?" Laxus said, staring at her intently.

"I learned what Sabertooth did to Yukino. Then I decided I wanted to kill their master. However, the one I was talking to told me it wasn't my place, but his," Evangeline told them. Laxus furrowed his brows but didn't ask any questions. Mira and Juvia shared a worried glance at each other. They were honestly becoming afraid of Evangeline. She was cruel.

"The third match will be Laxus Dreyar of Fairy Tail Team B against Alexei of Raven Tail!"

Evangeline gave Laxus a quick kiss on the cheek before she let him go.

"Kick his ass," she called out to him before he disappeared from view.

As soon as the match started, Evangeline knew something was wrong.

"_Illusion magic, Ev," _Aspen said in her mind. As soon as she was told, the illusion broke. What she saw almost frightened her. All the members of the Raven Tail team were on the field, and Laxus was fighting them all. She saw everyone from Fairy Tail putting up the fairy Tail sign, and she did as well with a wink, letting him know she knew what was going on.

Down on the field, Ivan was talking one last time to Laxus before he, too, was taken out by his son.

"Watch out for your demon bride, son. She's capable of darkness you don't understand," Ivan said. Laxus shook his head.

"I don't care. I've seen her at her most sadistic. I've seen her banish people to Hell. I've seen her tear apart those that dare to try and hurt her family. You must not know. She uses Light Magic as well," Laxus told the man. Ivan's eyes widened.

"How? How is one with that much dark magic deemed worthy to use Light Magic?" Ivan demanded to know.

"Because she is Evangeline. She is the Goddess of Fairy Tail. Now, I don't want to hear you speak ill of my wife again, shitty pops," Laxus growled. Ivan asked Laxus about Lumen Histoire, but Laxus didn't know what it was. Evangeline did, by accident of course, and she was concerned that Ivan knew about it. Laxus finished the battle and the illusion magic broke for everyone else.

"Is that? That is all of Raven Tail's Team on the field, as well as their master as a member. Raven Tail is disqualified! But, look at this! Laxus Dreyar has defeated the whole team on his own! This is simply incredible!"

Laxus made his way back to the balcony completely silent. Evangeline met him in the hall outside the balcony and wrapped her arms around him. He returned the gesture and buried his face in her hair.

"I'm sorry you had to do that," Evangeline whispered. He held onto her tighter.

"The whole time I could only think about what they did to our family. And then what he said about you," he mumbled.

"It's over. Our family is avenged. And don't worry about what they say about me. I know Mira and Juvia are becoming a little fearful of me even, but I've always been seemingly cruel. I have no mercy for those that harm my family, or harm innocents," Evangeline told him.

"Still. I'll never let anyone speak lowly of you," he growled. Evangeline shook her head, then pulled back a bit.

"I know. We can continue talking later, and I know that you have something you need to ask Gramps. I'll go with you," Evangeline said. "I know what it is, but I cannot tell you. I'm sorry."

"That's alright, love. We'll go ask him anyway," Laxus said, then kissed the top of her head. "Wendy is fighting. We should go watch."

Evangeline shook her head at the two girls who had just battled. They both collapsed from magic depletion.

"Wendy has always been one to make fast friends. I'm glad she's been able to make a friend in a different guild. She didn't have any before," Evangeline smiled.

"Kid's too nice for her own good," Gajeel grumbled.

"Wendy is still a child. I, for one, hope she continues trying to make friends with others. It's good for her. Especially since she is so shy," Mira said.

"Juvia agrees. Wendy also needs friends her own age," Juvia pointed out. The females all nodded together.

"Well, Ev and I have to talk to Gramps about something real fast. We'll catch up to you later," Laxus told the group and the two walked off before any of the others had a chance to respond.

* * *

"Lumen Histoire? How did Ivan find out about it? What did he tell you, Laxus?" Gramps demanded. Laxus held up his hands in fake surrender.

"He only said that it was Fairy Tail's darkness," Laxus said. The group then heard a voice.

"No. It's not Fairy Tail's darkness. It is Fairy Tail's light," Mavis said, appearing before them. Evangeline nodded her head to the ghost in respect.

"First Master!"

"How did he come to have that information in the first place?" Gramps pondered.

"Hades, most likely," Evangeline said, speaking up for the first time. Then, Mavis started to tear up.

"It's my fault. I left Precht in charge. I shouldn't have done that," she cried. The males started to freak out, as they didn't know how to comfort a crying person. Evangeline walked up to her and wrapped her arms tenderly around the girl and stroked her hair.

"It is not your fault, First. You are supposed to be able to trust your guildmates. You did what your heart said was right. There is nothing wrong in following your heart. This is Precht's fault. He became obsessed with the Dark Arts even though he knew the consequences. Besides, everything happens for a reason, First. Now, I heard Mira talking about going to a waterpark today. Would you like to come with me?" Evangeline said softly. Mavis perked up and stopped crying.

"Thank you, Evvie-chan. I needed that. I would love to go to that waterpark! Let's go!" Mavis said as she bounded away, Evangeline following behind her. The males hung back for a few more moments.

"She'll be a great mother one day," Gramps said, nodding.

"Yeah, she will," Laxus agreed.

* * *

Evangeline was sitting on a floating chair sipping on her smoothie while watching Mavis play around in the water. She was currently doing a breath holding contest. She was approaching five minutes under water. Laxus was sitting at the edge of the pool next to her.

"How much longer do you think she'll be down there?" Laxus said, his tone reflecting his boredom. Evangeline shrugged.

"It could be a while," she admitted. "Mavis is a ghost, after all. Anyway, relax."

"I'll go get a beer. You want anything else?" Laxus asked. Evangeline shook her head.

"No, the smoothie is good enough for me right now," Evangeline said, smiling at him. He then left.

"So, how are you doing, Evangeline?" Gramps asked her.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" she wondered.

"You don't seem quite yourself, dear. Now, tell your grandfather what is bothering you," Gramps pried. Evangeline sighed.

"Sense of impending doom, as usual," she said. Makarov frowned.

"Something is coming, then?" he asked. She nodded.

"I don't know what it is, but it's freaking me out. At night, I've had dreams of our allies being crucified and carried across a battlefield. I've seen out members beaten and bloodied. Dead. I don't know how, and I don't know why. I don't want it to happen," Evangeline said, tears coming to her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me, Ev," Laxus asked as he sat down beside her and took her hand. She hadn't noticed that he was back.

"I didn't want to worry you. I also didn't know what it meant. I still don't," Evangeline admitted. Laxus gave her a look.

"Remember what we agreed on? No more secrets to keep the other from worrying," Laxus scolded, but he wasn't harsh. She nodded; her eyes downcast.

"I know. I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"I forgive you. Now, when did this start?" Laxus asked her. Makarov decided it was best for him to leave the pair alone for the time being. Even though he loved to meddle, now was not the time.

"Two months ago. I haven't been sleeping very well since then. It's not like my typical visions, either. This came in my dreams and stays in my dreams. There's a voice that says 'don't give up hope,' and I don't know what that means either. With that in combination of seeing everyone basically dying, I don't know what to think," Evangeline explained.

"We'll get through it, just like we get through everything else. We knew something was coming. Now we know part of what. After the games, we need to get together with our allies and tell them. This is something that involves them now, so they need to get on the same training regimen that we have everyone on," Laxus said. Evangeline frowned.

"Will it be enough, though?"

"It'll have to be."

* * *

Unfortunately, everyone's day at the waterpark ended due to Natsu and Gray fighting. Again. The teams went back to their hotels and rested for the remainder of the day.

The next morning, everyone was up and ready to go. It was the fourth day of the games.

The group game today was Naval Battle. Juvia volunteered for Fairy Tail Team B, and Lucy went for Fairy Tail Team A.

The game took a turn for the worst when Juvia ended up sending herself out of the giant water bubble. That left Lucy alone with Minerva from Sabertooth. Then, Minerva decided to torture her. The timer finally went off and Minerva stuck Lucy out of the bubble, holding the blonde mage by her neck. Evangeline was the first on the field after Natsu, who caught her before she hit the ground.

Evangeline had merged her soul with Aspen and her armor had changed into a pure black dress with the black crown from her fight with Jura on her head. She released so much magic at once that it knocked most of the stadium off their feet, with the exception of the Wizard Saints that were in attendance, as well as Laxus and Erza.

"You will pay for what you've done," Evangeline spoke, her demonic tone reappearing, but it seemed like two people were speaking from her body at once. There were, of course, since Aspen and Evangeline were sharing equally.

"What do you think gives you the right to torture my guildmate? My friend? My sister?" Evangeline growled, two silver rods appearing near her, one in each of her hands. Then, she felt arms around her.

"Now is not the time, Ev. I know you want to kill her, but that would be messy. You can do it later," Laxus whispered in her ear. He didn't let her go until she stopped releasing her magic. She kept her death glare at Minerva, who was smirking. She was the only one in the stadium smirking, along with her father of course. Everyone else had a healthy fear of the demon container.

Evangeline waited outside the infirmary as Sherria, Wendy, and Porlyusica tried to save Lucy's life. Natsu was going insane, and Evangeline sent a powerful wave of her magic to damped his emotions. His inner dragon senses were going crazy, and he would hurt someone if she didn't act. Her magic hit him like a wall, and he ended up passing out. She sighed. Everyone looked at her in question.

"I had to. His instincts were going wild," was all she said. They didn't ask for any more information. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the door opened and it was announced that Lucy would be alright.

Relief flooded through everyone in Fairy Tail, as their beloved Celestial Mage would live. Everyone packed into the room to see her. She tried to apologize, but everyone shut her down. They didn't want her to feel sorry for what had happened. She had done everything she could and managed to get second place for her team. Gramps then walked in.

"I have bad news. Due to Raven Tail's disqualification, and the resulting odd number of teams, we are being forced to condense into one team. I have chosen the five that will be on this team. Unfortunately, they will have the lower of the two teams' scores. Now, the team will be: Laxus, Evangeline, Erza, Gajeel, and Natsu. You have a few moments to get ready before you are reintroduced to the crowd."

* * *

"Now, it's my pleasure to introduce to you, the new Fairy Tail Team!" Chapti said and the team walked out onto their balcony. They all held stone looks on their faces, with deathly glares in their eyes towards Sabertooth.

"Today, at special request of the king, we shall have two on two battles from the remaining guilds! Our first 2v2 will be Ichiya V. Kotobuki and Nichiya against Bacchus Groh and Rocker!"

Much to everyone's surprise, Ichiya won the battle for Blue Pegasus.

"I really did not see that coming," Evangeline admitted, blinking in disbelief. The other four mages nodded.

"Who wouldda thunk that old pervert was actually strong?" Natsu deadpanned.

"He is a powerful mage, he just doesn't act like it most of the time," Erza said, nodding.

"The next battle will be Kagura Mikasuchi and Millianna against Lyon Vastia and Yuka Suzuki!"

This battle was entertaining to say the least. It ended in a draw, as Kagura didn't draw fast enough to end the battle with her last attack.

"Yeesh. I wonder who will be fighting from our team. We will be against Sabertooth, so whoever it is, please hand their asses to them on a silver platter," Evangeline ended with a dark tone.

"We will avenge Lucy, don't worry," Erza said. "They are going to announce it now."

"The final battle that you've all been waiting for… Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox against Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney!"

* * *

Evangeline watched the battle intently. She saw the Twin Dragons use their dragon force on command and became worried.

"Come on Natsu. Gajeel," she muttered. Then, Natsu sent Gajeel down into the stadium on a minecart?

"Natsu you idiot," Laxus sighed. Erza narrowed her eyes on the field but kept quiet.

Natsu was able to take out Rogue first, and finally, with one last attack, he took out Sting. Everyone, including the Fairy Tail mages, went wild at the result. She knew from the look on Natsu's face that there had been a discussion on the field, but she didn't know what it was. She didn't want to pry, either, so she would let Natsu tell her about it later.

"Time to head back, then," Evangeline said.

"We have the day off tomorrow, too," Laxus commented.

"Mmm, yeah that's right," Evangeline mumbled. She hadn't remembered that fact.

"Someone's memory isn't working as normal," Laxus teased. The two left the arena together, leaving everyone else behind. They wished they hadn't made that decision after they learned what happened that night.

* * *

"They did WHAT?" Evangeline exploded.

"So basically, in order to get Lucy back, we need to win the games," Laxus growled. Gramps nodded, the look on his face grave.

"We are going to assemble a rescue team as well, incase something goes wrong," Gramps said.

"Then I'm going on that rescue team," Natsu shouted. Gramps nodded.

"Of course. You will be able to find her the fastest. As for the main team, we believe Mira should repleace-" Gramps started, but Gray cut him off.

"No. I'll do it," Gray said, his eyes burning with determination.

"Gray, it's not that we don't think you can do it, the odds just aren't in your favor," Mavis explained, appearing with the group.

"I don't care what the odds are. I'm going to do it, odds be damned," Gray insisted.

"Let Gray do it. I believe in him," Evangeline spoke. Everyone turned to look at her. She had defied what the First Master had said was best. Mavis looked at her curiously, then smiled.

"Very well. Gray will take Natsu's place in the games. Now, the rescue team will consist of Natsu, Happy, Wendy, Carla, and Mirajane. We will discuss a plan for that tomorrow. We will also go over the plan for the main battle while the rescue is going on. For now, get some rest. You all need it," Mavis said. The guild dispersed, anxious about what would happen to their celestial mage.

* * *

It was finally the last day of the Grand Magic Games. Team Fairy Tail was waiting for the signal from Mavis to start their plan. The rescue operation was already underway. Finally, they got the signal to start.

Evangeline made a B-line for the location she needed to be in to intercept Lyon and Sherria.

"Unlucky for you two, today," Evangeline smirked as she saw the two come into her view. Lyon and Sherria stiffened. They knew she was insanely powerful. They still had to try and fight, though. Evangeline didn't even bother changing her equipment, and opted to use Ice Make Magic to fight the two.

"Ice Make: Cage," she cast, trapping the two. They got out easily, but then they got distracted talking to each other. Evangeline couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Fine then, ignore your opponent without even attacking. That's fine. Everything's fine," she said as her eyebrow twitched.

"Ice Make: Cannon!" she cast, and the two Lamia Scale mages were knocked unconscious.

"Targets 1 and 2 eliminated. On to target 3 and to meet up with my hubby," Evangeline thought to herself. Aspen was mentally shaking her head at her host.

"Ah, finally we meet, Lightning Empress. I'd like to try some of that red lightning of yours," Orga drawled from his spot when she arrived in front of him.

"I don't think you'll like it. It is, after all, red from blood," Evangeline said, shifting into her lightning armor from her battle with Jura. Her magic nullifying sword appeared in her right hand. She didn't merge with Aspen yet, not sure that he was strong enough to deserve that treatment.

"Lightning God's Bellow," Orga cast at her, and Evangeline sliced through the attack.

"Is that really all you can do? I expected more," Evangeline sighed. Orga didn't know what to think. He hadn't even hit her.

"Lightning Gods Charged Particle Cannon," Orga cast again, hoping to hit her with his most powerful spell.

"You may be the Lightning God Slayer, but you will need many more years of training before you can even hope to defeat me in a battle with lightning," Evangeline said, but he couldn't pinpoint her voice. It was like she was everywhere around him.

"Let the eyes of the dragon judge your heart: Elektra's Lingering Soul," Evangeline cast, using the lightning around her, as well as Orga's own lightning, to create the lightning dragon of her husband's lacrima. The battle was over. Now she had to wait for everyone else to finish. She had insisted that she help Laxus with his fight against Jura, but he refused. So, she decided to go and watch.

"Ah, Lady Evangeline. Are you joining in this battle?" Jura asked her upon her arrival. She shook her head.

"Not today. I have faith in my husband," Evangeline said confidently. Laxus looked over to her and nodded. He would do this.

Though he was knocked down and almost declared out, Laxus managed to defeat Jura with a single punch. She walked up to him a supported him as they walked to their meeting spot. Gray, Gajeel, and Erza all arrived, each sporting their own injuries. They saw Sting, the only remaining enemy, approaching them.

"I'll do it. I'll take all of you down. All together," Sting said, and Evangeline knew something was wrong. The tone of his voice sounded wrong.

"Then come. We will take you on. We may be battered and bruised and broken, but we will still defeat you," Erza said. She was using a her sword to support her so she could stand.

"I have to beat you. You don't understand. I will beat you for Lector," Sting insisted, but there was a haunted look in his eyes. Evangeline stepped away from Laxus and walked over to Sting, stopping a few feet in front of him. He collapsed to his knees in tears.

"I can't do it. I surrender," he cried. Evangeline got down on the ground next to him and pulled him into her arms. Sting cried on her, wrapping his arms around her as if she was his only lifeline. Erza hobbled over and put a hand on Sting's shoulder.

"I'll never see Lector again. He's dead because of me," he managed to say between sobs.

"Maybe not. Look up, Sting," Erza told the young slayer, a smile on her face.

"Erzie!" Millianna called out.

"Over here, Millianna," Erza said. Millianna approached, and Sting looked up. He stopped breathing for a second. In Millianna's arms was Lector. Sting released his hold on Evangeline, who released her hold on him. Millianna brought Lector over to him and placed him in Sting's arms.

"I took care of him after I found him. He's okay," Millianna said. Sting held onto Lector and cried even harder.

"Lector, I'm so sorry. I'll never let you get hurt again," Sting said.

"Sting?" Lector asked, finally opening his eyes.

"I'm here buddy," Sting told him. Lector had tears gather in his eyes that then spilled over as well.

"Sting!"

* * *

"So, we won, huh?" Laxus said as everyone started to celebrate.

"Hasn't sunk in yet, has it?" Erza smiled. The whole group shook their heads.

"We haven't heard from the rescue mission yet," Evangeline said worriedly.

"They will be okay. They know what they have to do, and they will move Heaven and Earth to get her back," Erza said confidently.

"I know. I just worry. I have this pit in my stomach. It feels like… dread," Evangeline murmured, and then her fears were confirmed.

"Attention mages. I must call upon you to help defend your country. A thousand dragons are on their way to Crocus as we speak. Please, help me defend this country!" The king, who was Chapti during the games, begged the mages who were celebrating.

"Then we fight," Erza shouted over the commotion that had erupted. "Why are we mages if we cannot help those when they are in need? Right now, we are all in need. Let us band together to defeat the dragons!"

This calmed everyone, and the mages began to step up to fight.

* * *

Evangeline and Laxus were currently facing off with Zirconis, the dragon that the other slayers in Fairy Tail had talked to the night that Lucy was arrested. The gate had been opened, but quickly closed, but unfortunately 7 dragons come through the time portal.

"Ev, get away from here," Laxus told her.

"And leave you? No, I can't," Evangeline insisted, dodging another attack. Now, Wendy showed up.

"You aren't a slayer, Ev. Take care of the minions," Laxus said. Evangeline didn't budge and saw as Laxus went to get Wendy out of the way of an attack, only to be bitten by the dragon.

"Ew, human male. I didn't want that," the dragon complained. Laxus was flung from it's jaws and Evangeline teleported to catch him.

"Evangeline," Laxus coughed out. He had blood pouring out around him.

"No, shush, don't talk. It'll be alright," Evangeline said, tears gathering in her eyes and sliding down her face. Laxus weakly lifted a hand to try and brush her tears away.

"I'm glad I got to spend my life with you. I love you," he said, then he slipped away.

"Laxus?" Evangeline said, shaking him.

"Laxus, please, come back," she said, tears pouring from her eyes.

"WAKE UP!" she screamed, but he didn't respond. She Rested his body on the ground, then she saw red. Evangeline merged her soul with Aspen and they underwent the transformation into Aspen's true form as the Demon Goddess. The black flowing dress with the silver vambrace on her right arm reappeared, and a black obsidian crown adorned her head.

"You will pay," she roared. Red lightning started appearing around her, striking down dragon minions and hitting dragons all over the city. The sky went black with the clouds as she got ready to blast Zirconis off the face of the world.

"Hear me, Oh demons of the circles of Hell. Grant me the power to rid this place of taint. Let blood run red as your damned lightning. Bend and break the bodies of my enemies. Vanquish them from my earthly plain. Let Heaven and Hell rain down on my enemies: Lightning's Demonic Herald's Tempest!" Evangeline cast, and the storm let hell unleash upon the dragon that murdered her husband. It wasn't her normal ace. She had combined it with Tempest, the magic Laxus's great-great grandfather had used, as well as Aspen's power. The wind ripped through the city but didn't affect the mages or civilians. It sucked the dragons and dragon minions into the air started ripping them to shreds.

Then Evangeline was standing near a building, talking to Laxus again.

"Wait, what?" Evangeline said, and she looked down to see that she wasn't in her Demon Goddess attire.

"_Someone used a time spell,"_ Aspen told her in her mind. "_It appears what whoever sacrificed their life had only a life worth one minutes time. Don't let it go to waste. Merge with me, now. Let's use the same spell to turn the tide."_

Evangeline did as Aspen asked without hesitation. She saw that Laxus had avoided getting killed this time around, then got ready to cast her spell.

"Hear me, Oh demons of the circles of Hell. Grant me the power to rid this place of taint. Let blood run red as your damned lightning. Bend and break the bodies of my enemies. Vanquish them from my earthly plain. Let Heaven and Hell rain down on my enemies: Lightning's Demonic Herald's Tempest!"

The same damage resulted, sending the dragons flying away from the humans they were fighting. At the same time, Natsu punched Motherglare into the wind and thus, into the Eclipse Gate, breaking it. The dragons then disappeared, as did Evangeline's spell.

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking, jumping in like that to get killed?" Evangeline shouted at Laxus. They never had shouting arguments.

"And what the hell were you thinking trying to fight a dragon? You aren't a dragon slayer, Evangeline!" Laxus retorted.

"And who was the one that did the most damage to those damned things? Me. The non-slayer. We stand no chance right now, if we have seven slayers who can't even kill a single dragon," Evangeline mocked.

"What would you have had me do, then? Let Wendy die instead of me? She's a child, she shouldn't have to die because of you being selfish!"

"So now I'm being selfish because I watched you die and didn't want that to happen? You have no idea what that felt like for me!"

"Of course, I don't, but you would have gotten over it eventually. Live on and go fight another day."

"No, I wouldn't have. Would you have just sucked it up and been like 'Oh well, Evangeline is dead now, time to move on with my life?'"

"If it meant protecting everyone else, I'd do anything I had to, Evangeline. Now stop being so damn caught up in yourself that you think this revolves around you!" Evangeline was about to say something in reply until she actually repeated what he said in her mind. Her face went blank.

"Well then," she said, emotionlessly. "If that's how you really feel I guess I'll leave now. Goodbye, Laxus." Evangeline left, and Laxus didn't follow behind her. She walked off into the night in Crocus, not even realizing that the whole guild had been listening to the fight. Gray went after her.

"I cannot believe he said that," Ever blinked. She felt her eyes get wet.

"He can't have meant it," Mira tried to convince everyone, including herself. Wendy was sobbing while Lucy held onto her.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," Wendy choked out. Lucy was trying to soothe the young slayer.

"We know, Wendy. They know that. This doesn't really have anything to do with that, Wendy. It's about what he said after. Ev doesn't want you hurt or dead, but she also can't really say she'd rather Laxus have died. It's a horrible spot for him to have argued from," Lucy told the girl. Wendy nodded into Lucy's chest.

"I just don't want Nii-san and Nee-san to fight. They never fight," she sniffled.

"We know, Wendy. We know."

"Did you listen to yourself there, boy?" Makarov said, his tone hard.

"I said what I had to say," Laxus muttered.

"No, boy, you said something you didn't mean and now you've hurt her," Makarov argued.

"I said-"

"You said you wouldn't care if it was her that died because you would just keep going on with your life. You weren't there. You died in her arms, and it brought her back to when her parents were killed in front of her. She snapped. It's a miracle she managed to remember that spell, and it was such dark magic, even for her. We could feel her pain. We felt our hearts breaking in two. Then, for you to say you'd continue on just to protect us, no, my boy. That isn't a fair argument to make. You know that's not what she was getting at. You better pray to the gods that she listens to you when you go and apologize to her. Don't come back here until you've done that," Makarov finished, not allowing Laxus to speak. His grandson went completely silent, the weight of Makarov's words and his own words finally getting to him.

"I did it again," he muttered, putting his head in his hands.

"You did. Now go do something about it instead of running away this time," Makarov commanded. Laxus left the bar and wandered around Crocus, thinking about how he could possibly talk his way out of the hole he had dug himself this time.

"_Evangeline, stop right now," _Aspen practically shouted in their mindscape.

Why, Evangeline thought back. He made it perfectly clear what he thinks of me.

"_Think rationally. This man has crossed oceans to protect you. He didn't mean what he said, not at all. Yes, he was being unfair. Yes, he did something extremely stupid. No, you didn't deserve it. He's human. So are you. So, get over yourself, Evangeline. You aren't the only one hurting. I know your emotions are out of whack right now, but please, I am begging you, go back and listen to him," _Aspen pleaded with her. Evangeline felt a tear drip down her face.

"Ev, come here," her brother said from behind her. She turned around and ran into his arms.

"Shh, Ev, it'll be okay," Gray said as he rubbed her back as she cried.

"I.. He.." Evangeline sputtered.

"He made a mistake. You saw him die. He saw you risk your life when theoretically there was nothing you should have been able to do to the dragons. You made a mistake, too. I won't take sides this time since you are both wrong," Gray told her.

"But he hurt me again," Evangeline whispered painfully.

"I know. You hurt him, too, Ev. Not with your words but with your actions. Please, just make up," Gray begged. He separated himself from her and left her, not entirely since he would be keeping an eye on her from a ways away, but enough to that Laxus saw he had to go in and talk to her.

Evangeline looked around and found that she was in her orphan square again.

"And here we are again," Evangeline spoke into the night, knowing Laxus was behind her from his magic.

"Here we are again," he repeated. They were silent for a few minutes before Evangeline spoke.

"You hurt me," she put plainly.

"I know," Laxus said. His tone was defeated.

"You were unfair," she said.

"I know."

"Why?"

"I didn't want to lose you, Evangeline. Regardless of what I said, I didn't mean it. Any of it. Well, some of it. I was worried about you facing a dragon. We are called dragon slayers for a reason. I get why you didn't, though. And I know that either one of us could have grabbed Wendy out of harms way instead of me sacrificing myself needlessly. And honest to the gods, I wouldn't be able to live knowing you were dead, Evangeline. I know that you feel the same. I don't know why I always fuck this up, but here I am. Trying to fix it when I know I can't," Laxus sighed. Evangeline said nothing and didn't move. Laxus felt his heart breaking again, just like when he had hurt her the first time, except there was no possibility of getting what they had back now. He'd ruined it.

"Goodbye, Evangeline. I'm sorry," he mumbled before he turned to walk away. Then, he felt a hand on his wrist.

"Don't go. Please. I just didn't want you to be gone," Evangeline said tearfully. He turned to face her and used his other hand to brush away some of her tears.

"I'll never leave you, Evangeline. I swear," Laxus said.

"Good. I won't let you. Let's not fight again. I don't like it," Evangeline frowned, tears still falling from her eyes.

"Never again."

* * *

Two days later, there was a ball at the palace to celebrate the end of the Grand Magic Games, as well as their lucky victory over the dragon invasion. Evangeline was getting ready with the other females of Fairy Tail. She was wearing a long, fitted black dress that had a high slit on the left leg. She had her hair down and curled and was wearing whatever makeup Mira had forced her into.

"Can I go now?" Evangeline whined. Mira and the other girls laughed.

"Yes, we are all ready to go now, so we can leave," Mira told her friend. They walked down to the ballroom as a group and entered to see a huge number of people. Evangeline went straight for Laxus, who was being crowded by women.

"Eh-hem. I would like my husband back, please and thank you. No, I will not share. Please leave before I electrocute you," Evangeline smiled. The women who were clinging to Laxus suddenly disappeared, as if they had never been there in the first place.

"Scary Ev to save the day," Laxus said as he stood up and kissed her. "You look beautiful."

"I must say, you look pretty good yourself," Evangeline smirked. Laxus kissed her again before they sat back down at their table. They sat there for a while, observing all that everyone was doing.

"I missed people watching," Evangeline admitted.

"Yeah, it's interesting that's for sure," Laxus agreed.

"Poor Yukino getting harassed by everyone. She'll go to Sabertooth though. Sting will be a good master. I'm sure of it," Evangeline smiled.

"Seems like you took him under your wing easily," Laxus teased. Evangeline shrugged.

"He needed someone to rely on outside of Sabertooth. Someone that wouldn't judge him for his past or hurt him. He's been through a lot, and I know I spoke down on it, but I got over that. My main issue, really, was them talking down on us, and then Minerva torturing Lucy. Sting and Rogue never did anything really wrong. They are still kids. They need time to grow up, but I think they did a lot of that this week," Evangeline explained. Laxus nodded.

"Makes sense. Anyway, he will have Fairy Tail to come to for help if he needs it," Laxus said. Evangeline smiled.

"Yes, he will," she echoed. Then, she heard a loud crashing and banging. She wasn't surprised by what she saw. Natsu came barging in with the King's Crown.

"What a way to end it, Natsu."

* * *

"Mmm, it feels so good to be home, finally," Evangeline said as she flopped back on her bed. Laxus chuckled at her antics.

"That it is. Now we can finally relax," Laxus said, laying down next to her in their bed.

"For a while, at least," Evangeline sighed.

"Just a while?" Laxus questioned. Evangeline nodded.

"Our lives are about to get a whole lot busier," Evangeline said cryptically. Laxus narrowed his eyes.

"Another fight? Against what this time?" he asked. Evangeline shook her head.

"No, not a fight," she said, and started to smile, not that Laxus could see.

"So, if it's not a fight, what is it?" he questioned again.

"I'm pregnant."

**HA! Gotcha! Bam! How's that for a twist? Anyway, super long chapter. 15,020ish words without authors notes. Enjoy the double length chapter! I'll get working on chapter 11 for you. That will include Tartaros arc. I have more twists coming, and I cannot wait for you guys to read it. I have been so inspired to write again now that I'm done with my classes it's unbelievable. I might even write a few chapters for In The Dark to start wrapping that up after I take care of Tartaros arc on this one.**


	11. Present: Always

**Chapter 11! Also, review please? Thank you. I will be changing how the Tartaros arc goes because of the situation the characters are in. I will try and bring out the tone of this arc, and the aftermath will be the same. So, get ready!**

The guild went crazy at the news. They threw one of the largest parties in guild history: it lasted for ten days.

"These people always amaze me at how they can party. And I can't party with them," Evangeline pouted. Laxus rolled his eyes.

"You will be able to again eventually, stop complaining," he teased. Evangeline kept pouting.

"This is your fault, asshole," she whined. He gave her a look.

"Mhmm, whatever you say," he said. "Anyway, we should head home. Everyone is passing out. Besides, we have a job tomorrow." This made Evangeline very happy.

"I get to go?" she asked, her eyes sparkling. He nodded.

"You're careful. And remember what Aspen said, too. I'm not worried. But if something goes wrong, you bail. Right away. No questions asked," he said. She nodded. Aspen had wanted to talk to them about the situation and said that she would protect their baby in the case they had to fight while she was still pregnant, which they knew would likely happen.

"Deal," Evangeline agreed. She was just happy she wasn't going to be guild-bound for the next six months.

"Now, sleep."

* * *

The job was an easy one. They had taken a regular job with just the two of them. They had to catch a few thieves that were tormenting a small magic shop in Hargeon.

"You know, this reminds me of our first job outside of Magnolia," Evangeline remarked after they had gotten information from their client. Laxus sighed.

"We both know how that went, Ev," he breathed. "That's not going to happen again."

"Of course not. We are both as powerful as Wizard Saints, and these are just petty thieves. It doesn't matter if they have one or even two S-Class mages with them," Evangeline argued. "I was just getting at thieves and a magic shop, similar."

"Whatever you say, love," he said, shaking his head. The two would be taking the thieves out that night, most likely.

"Stop worrying so much," Evangeline told him, and then stopped walking next to him.

"Hmm?"

"Food. There. I went there all the time when I was working that concert venue job," Evangeline said, pointing to the diner in front of them.

"Bussini's, huh? I guess that's why you looked a little fluffier after you came back from that job," he teased, then regretted his words when Evangeline stiffened next to him. "Okay, I'm sorry, that was a lie."

"It had better be, asshole," Evangeline grumbled. She went inside the diner and Laxus followed after her. He was going to have to be careful incase she accidentally killed him for teasing her. HE shivered at the thought.

"Oh, hush. I won't kill you just because you make me sad. Aspen has already told me she won't let me because I'd be sadder if you died," Evangeline said, smiling. He shook his head. This would be an interesting time, that was for sure.

They were seated next to a window that faced the boardwalk.

"They have lasagna," Evangeline stated, putting her menu down.

"And it's a lasagna you approve of? I guess I know what I'm getting, then," Laxus said, putting his menu down as well. Evangeline was extremely picky about lasagna. In her mind, no one's could be as good as her mother's. If this one was acceptable, that meant it was really good.

"It tastes just like my mom's did. Like, exactly the same. I tried to get their recipe, but they couldn't give it out. Makes sense, but just kind of sad," Evangeline sighed. She got quiet after that.

"She'd be proud of you, ya know?" Laxus told her. She nodded.

"I just wish she was here," she mumbled.

"I know," he said quietly.

"I think, when we get home, we should go visit our parents. They probably want to know the news," Evangeline said.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I haven't gone to talk to my mom since… Damn I don't even remember," Laxus trailed off.

"Our wedding," Evangeline said. Laxus nodded slowly.

"Sounds about right. I don't mean to forget, it just…"

"Happens. We go on with our lives with them gone, even though at the time we lost them we didn't know how we'd cope," Evangeline finished. "It's okay. We have to keep moving onward."

"That we do. Look where we are now," Laxus said.

"Indeed."

* * *

Dinner was amazing, and then the two set up inside of the magic shop to wait for the thieves. There weren't believed to be any strong mages, but they were ready just incase.

"Four outside the front door, five outside the back. Small magic signatures, and they feel anxious," Evangeline reported as soon as she felt them outside the store.

"Should be easy then," Laxus said. Evangeline nodded. Then, they heard the doors open and footsteps coming inside.

"Pssh, this should be easy. I swear that man hasn't learned. I thought he'd get some guards," one said, and Evangeline believed he was their leader.

"Uh, boss," another one spoke up. This one sounded much younger, almost like a child.

"What, brat? I don't have to bring you, ya know? You're the one who needs money for their sick family," the boss sneered. This set Evangeline off.

"Using a child to steal because they have no other way of getting money? How sick are you?" Evangeline asked, her voice dark.

"Mages," the boss yelped. "Get the-"

"No one is getting or going anywhere," Laxus spoke.

"Boss, these are the Fairies that beat the Wizard Saint," another thief whispered.

"Run," the boss shouted, but they were surprised when the walls and floors suddenly turned to ice.

"You aren't going anywhere, we already told you that," Evangeline smiled. The thieves became very, very afraid.

"Please, we just need money. We-" one of the thieves started.

"No. You are stealing from someone's business. If you are mages you could have joined a guild. There's no excuse for you to steal from someone else," Evangeline cut off the thief.

"And you've dragged a kid into it. That's worse than just stealing in general. Now, we can do this one of two ways. The easy way would be for you to surrender now and we don't have to beat the shit out of you, or the hard way, where we just beat the shit out of you. Your choice," Laxus told them. He had his arms crossed over his chest. Evangeline was standing next to him in her armor's neutral form that she wore at the games.

The kid came forward and surrendered himself.

"You traitor! You-" the boss started, but was then knocked unconscious by a bolt of lightning.

"Anyone else want to follow your boss?" Laxus asked, his tone bored. It was clear that he could knock them all out in a second. The other thieves surrendered, and Evangeline put some of her obsidian cuffs on them to keep them there until the Rune Knights came. She called them ahead of time so they would be there to collect them.

The Rune Knights arrived twenty minutes later. The thieves were loaded into transports to the local jail, except Evangeline stepped in when they went to detain the kid.

"The kid stays with me," Evangeline told the knights.

"Miss, the boy was one of them. He can't go free," the knight started. He stopped when he saw Evangeline shaking her head.

"The boy was manipulated into helping them. His family is sick, and this was the only route for him to get money, I assume, because the boss had blackballed him to other legal ways. There are no guilds in Hargeon for him to take jobs from. If you'd like, I can pull up the boss's memories and show you," Evangeline argued. The knight put his hands up in surrender.

"I believe you, Miss. We aren't stupid enough to defy someone so powerful, and if you say the kid is innocent, then that's what I will go with. Have a good night," the knight said, rounding up the rest of his group and they left to the jail.

"Why did you save me?" the kid asked. He looked like he hadn't slept in days and he was very thin.

"You needed help. An adult saw that and took advantage of you, and that's not okay. Now, where is home? We'd like to see what we can do to help," Evangeline explained.

"They're in the hospital. I needed the money from what I'd get tonight to pay for them to stay in there. They have a really bad sickness and the doctors are worried. They wanted to transfer them to Crocus but we can't afford it," the boy said tearfully.

"Let's go, then. We'll pay for them to be transferred," Laxus said, putting his hand on top of the boys head and ruffling his hair.

"Why are you helping me?" the boy asked dumbfoundedly. "What do you want?"

"What's your name?" Evangeline asked, ignoring the questions for that moment.

"Lucas. Lucas Redford," the boy said hesitantly.

"Well, Lucas. I lost my parents when I was just a bit older than you. It's really scary, and you'd do anything to keep them safe. That's why you turned to stealing, right? You felt like it was your only option to keep them alive. I'm not saying it was the best option, but it was the only one you saw, so you took it. If I can prevent another kid from losing their parents, I'll take it. No one should grow up alone," Evangeline said softly. The boy had tears come to his eyes.

"Now, let's go see them and get them transferred. We'll pay for everything, kid, don't worry," Laxus said.

"Okay," Lucas sniffled as he led them to the hospital his parents were in.

* * *

"So, everything is set up for tomorrow morning, then?" Evangeline confirmed. The doctor nodded.

"I didn't think they'd get a chance, but they have treatments in Crocus that we just don't have access to here because the disease is so weird. It's not contagious, so don't worry about that. It's an odd form of magic deficiency disease, but it's manifesting differently. Now, you said you'd cover their whole stay here, their transport, as well as their stay in Crocus?" the doctor asked, almost mind blown. Evangeline and Laxus nodded.

"We will," they said in unison. The doctor shook his head.

"You people are crazy. Oh well, everything is set up. Now, there's only the kid to deal with. Crocus's unusual magic disease ward doesn't allow children to stay there. He doesn't have any other family in the area, either. We're all at a loss as to what to do with him. We've already seen what he does when he's left to his own devices," the doctor grumbled.

"We'll take him to Fairy Tail, if that's what he would like," Evangeline told the doctor.

"And you think he'd be alright there? He's so much trouble," the doctor argued.

"He will be fine with us. Fairy Tail will look out for him and give him a good source of income in a safe, legal way. He doesn't have to pay for housing, either, because he's so young. He can go to school if he wishes. We have some members that are near his age, a few years older or younger. He's not trouble, either. He was used by someone who wanted to take advantage of his situation," Evangeline argued back. The doctor put his hands up.

"Fine, take the kid. We don't want him here, anyway. Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting into before you regretted it," he said before he walked away. Laxus and Evangeline left the hallway and went back to the room Lucas was in with his parents.

"Hey, kiddo. We've got everything set up for tomorrow," Evangeline told him. His eyes lit up.

"Really? Tomorrow?" he asked. The older mages nodded at him.

"Now, I'm sure you've been told this before, but the unit they will be going to doesn't allow children to stay there because it can get really gruesome. That being said, would you like to come to Fairy Tail with us?" Evangeline asked. The boy blinked.

"You'd really take me there?"

"Of course. You'll have some kids around your age, and you can take jobs in Magnolia helping people out. You wouldn't have to pay for housing or food, either. Anyone would be willing to take you up to Crocus to visit your parents, too," Evangeline explained. Lucas's eyes brightened.

"Of course!"

* * *

The next day, Lucas's parents were set up at the Crocus hospital for treatment and then Evangeline and Laxus left with Lucas for Fairy Tail.

"What's it like?" Lucas asked.

"Wild," Laxus said.

"Loud," Evangeline said.

"But it's home," Laxus finished. Evangeline nodded in agreement.

"Everyone there has had some sort of trauma in their childhood, so you won't be alone in that. Everyone is easy to get along with, for the most part. They can be a little bit much at first, but you will learn to love them," Evangeline explained. Lucas nodded.

"What kind of magic does everyone there use?" Lucas asked.

"All kinds. My brother, Gray, uses Ice Make Magic, which he taught to me. Natsu, one of my friends, is the Fire Dragon Slayer," Evangeline said, giving some examples.

"On my team, everyone has two types of magic. Evergreen uses Fairy Magic, but she can also turn people to stone with her eyes. Freed uses mainly Rune magic, but he also has Dark Ecriture as an eye magic. Bickslow is a Seith Mage, who then uses souls in his puppets," Laxus explained.

"Everyone has a different type of magic. What type of magic do you use?" Evangeline asked, since they hadn't seen his magic yet.

"I use Ice Make magic," he said excitedly. Evangeline smiled.

"Awesome! Then Gray and I can help you with it. Mostly Gray though, since I'm not exactly the best at it. Gray is a lot better than me. He taught me Ice Make when we were younger," Evangeline explained. Lucas grinned.

"I can't wait to get there!"

* * *

"We're back," Evangeline called as the group walked through the doors of the Fairy Tail guild hall.

"Welcome back!" some of the members called. The group walked up to the bar where Mira and Master were.

"And who is this young man?" Master asked, eyeing the boy cautiously.

"He's here to join, for now at least. He got into some trouble, but I think he will be a good addition," Evangeline told him.

"What's your name, son?" Master asked the boy directly.

"Lucas Redford," he said confidently.

"What kind of magic do you use?" Master asked again.

"Ice Make," Lucas replied. Master blinked.

"And you're from Hargeon? Interesting to have an Ice Make mage from a costal city," Master pondered.

"My parents are from Seven. They moved to Hargeon when they were teenagers. They were both Ice Make mages," Lucas explained.

"Really? I guess that's one more think you have in common with Gray, then," Evangeline said. Lucas furrowed his brows in confusion.

"I'm from Seven as well," Gray said, walking up to the group. "I heard we have another Ice Make mage. What's your name, kid?"

"Lucas," he repeated. Lucas figured he might as well get used to introducing himself constantly for a while.

"Well, Lucas, how about we go out back of the guild and you show me what you know?" Gray asked. Lucas nodded excitedly and raced out back. Evangeline shook her head.

"I swear, that kid reminds me of you so much," Evangeline said.

"What's his last name?" Gray asked, not having heard it.

"Redford," Evangeline said. Gray's eyes widened.

"Really? I had some neighbors with the same name. Their oldest moved to Hargeon right before the attack," Gray muttered. Now Evangeline's eyes widened.

"I think they might be the same, then. At least his father," Evangeline told him.

"I wouldn't be surprised. Not that many Redfords in Seven that made it to Fiore," Gray said. He shook his head. "I should get going before the kid freezes the place on accident. You should come watch."

"I'll be along in a bit. I'm going to get a sandwich from Mira first," Evangeline said, and Gray left to follow the boy. Mira made Evangeline her sandwich and set it down in front of her at the bar.

"So, what do you think?" Evangeline asked Laxus. He shrugged.

"I think Gray will take the kid under his wing. I know that's what you were hoping for. Especially now since the kid's father was Gray's neighbor," he said. Evangeline nodded in agreement.

"I hope the parents get better, though. Then we can bring them both in here as well. I doubt they'd have a good time starting over in Hargeon again knowing what their son got into while they were out of commission," Evangeline sighed.

"Well, even if they don't, he's got us now. I doubt he'll be leaving any time soon."

* * *

A few months went by and Evangeline was now obviously pregnant. And she hated it. Unfortunately, she developed a condition that made her extremely ill and was forced into bedrest. She spent most of her time at the guild infirmary or at home.

"I swear to the high heavens, I am never doing this again," she moaned after being sick for the umpteenth time. Mira frowned at her friend.

"I'm sorry, Evvie. You only have another 3 months then it's over," Mira tried to comfort, only for Evangeline to groan.

"3 months of hell you mean! I don't think I'll make it that long. I'll die before then," Evangeline said dramatically.

"No, you won't. You just got unlucky, stupid girl," Porlyusica said as she walked into the room.

"Luck always hated me," Evangeline whined. Porlyusica shook her head.

"It's a good thing you have me, though, because I've found something that should help," Porlyusica barked. This made Evangeline perk up, and a spark re-entered her eye. She'd lost it when she started getting so sick a few months prior. Porlyusica noticed, and prayed that this potion worked.

"Drink this every morning. It should prevent you from being sick," she said, handing the green potion over to the bluenette. Evangeline took the vial from her and downed it in one gulp. It tasted terrible, but she didn't care. As long as it kept her from puking her guts out multiple times a day, she didn't care how bad it tasted. She blinked a few seconds after she had drank it.

"I don't feel sick anymore," she said in amazement. "Is this what I felt like before?"

"Yes, it is. Now, you'll have to take that every day. Now, go downstairs and get back to your people," Porlyusica told her, and Evangeline jumped out of bed, as best she could, and then zipped down the stairs.

"I'm alive! I'm not dying anymore!" Evangeline yelled as she raced into the main area of the guild hall.

"Ev, you were never dying. Your body didn't like your baby," Evergreen deadpanned. Evangeline nodded.

"Neither did I. Now it's fine. There's a magic potion that revived me!" Evangeline shouted. She had way too much energy.

"Slow down there," Gray said, patting her head. "Don't get too rowdy. You've been wasting away. Go eat."

"Where's-" Evangeline started to ask, but Lucas stopped her.

"He left on another job. He should be back in two days," Lucas smiled. Evangeline patted his head.

"Thank you, Lucas. I swear, I see him less now than I did while he was banished," she sighed. Gray shook his head.

"You know he feels guilty that you were so sick," Gray tried to defend.

"Technically, he has two dragons too. His inner, personal dragon sense was probably ripping him to shreds," Gajeel explained. "The other one from the lacrima was probably trying to calm that, but it ended up in an all out war between the two. Best for him to stay away for a bit."

Evangeline nodded slowly. "That makes sense. Thank you." Gajeel nodded.

"Oh, Evvie-nee, my parents should be coming here in a few weeks! They recovered enough from their illness," Lucas told her, his eyes gleaming.

"Oh, Lucas, that's great! I can't wait to meet them," Evangeline smiled. "Now…"

"What should I eat?"

* * *

Two days later Laxus finally returned, and Evangeline couldn't be happier. Finally, everything was back to normal. He was surprised that she was actually functioning, as Porlyusica hadn't told him about her ventures into making Evangeline a potion to stop her sickness.

"So, you just have to drink one in the morning, then you are fine?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yep. That's it. I just wish she found it sooner or I wouldn't have felt like I was dying the past several months. I still just want this to be over, not going to lie," Evangeline trailed off. "I miss doing things. I miss me."

"It will be soon. Then we will both be suffering," Laxus shook his head. Evangeline shrugged.

"Better us being tired than me feeling like death," she rolled her eyes.

"Anyway. I got a request from a city specifically for me and my team, so I'm going on that. I should be sticking closer to home after we get back," Laxus told her. Evangeline frowned, but relented.

"Okay. Just be safe," she smiled slightly. Laxus gave her a quick kiss before he went to collect his team.

"Well, back to the library I guess," Evangeline sighed.

"You're getting close, at least. I think the theory you found is sound about separating," Aspen said in her mind.

"Yeah, it's just the curse at this point," Evangeline thought back to her demon. "Unfortunately, we might need to make a trip to the council library to try and find it. You don't remember what it was?"

"No, unfortunately. I wasn't really aware of what was going on. I've been trying to remember it for hundreds of years, my dear," Aspen sighed.

"It's alright. We will figure it out," Evangeline thought. She knew Aspen would be nodding in agreement.

"Hey, Levy, did you still have that book about ancient curses?" Evangeline asked her fellow bluenette.

"I've been looking through it, actually. I found something that might be worth looking at," Levy told her. Evangeline paused.

"Really?" she asked, amazed. Levy nodded excitedly.

"I think it's an ancient curse known as the Wasting Curse. It was typically used in conjunction with sealing things that the user didn't want to have unsealed. It sounds exactly like what happened," Levy explained.

"Is there a way to reverse it?" Evangeline asked. Thankfully, Levy nodded.

"It's a hard process, especially since Aspen was so strong when she was sealed. It should take about a week to undo. I wouldn't recommend doing it until after your baby is here, though. It's too dangerous," Levy warned. Evangeline nodded.

"I can't believe we finally found it, though. I've been looking for years," Evangeline sighed.

"I know. That's why I went back through most of the library after you finally asked for help. This was the first book you read, but I think you just didn't have enough information at the time," Levy told her. It made sense. When she was initially looking, she wasn't sure exactly what she was looking for. Now she did, as did everyone else in Fairy Tail.

* * *

Two days later, the Thunder Legion returned with Laxus, and Evangeline could immediately tell that something had happened. That night, before bed, she tried to get him to tell her what happened.

"What happened on the job? I can tell something isn't right," Evangeline said softly, laying on her side facing him. He sighed.

"The mayor set it up. He was destroying the town with my lightning," he mumbled. Evangeline put a hand to his face and caressed his face.

"He was using you to scare people." Laxus nodded.

"He stored it in a lacrima that was going off uncontrollably. I…" Laxus trailed off and tried to avoid looking in her eyes.

"Hey," Evangeline whispered. He looked back into her eyes. "That isn't you."

"It was," he argued weakly. Evangeline shook her head.

"No. It wasn't," Evangeline reminded.

"I hurt everyone. I hurt you. Who's to say I couldn't do that again," Laxus mumbled.

"You won't. I trust you, and everyone else does. We've all forgiven you. You need to forgive yourself. Please," Evangeline begged quietly.

"I've been trying, but things keep happening and I don't deserve to."

"You do. You should forgive yourself before this little one gets here. Life will only get harder for you if you don't. You've saved us all, many times. You are worthy of forgiveness, Laxus," Evangeline said. She scooted closer to him and he put his arms around her.

"I'll try. For you and our kid," he said, kissing her hair. She was already asleep by then.

* * *

The next week came and Laxus and his team were called upon by Yajima to come help out at his restaurant. When they had just left, Evangeline had a horrible wave of dread come over her. She felt like she couldn't catch her breath.

"Evvie, are you okay?" Mira rushed over to her. She was sitting at a table with a hand to her chest.

"Something bad is going to happen, Mira. Something really, really, really bad is going to happen," Evangeline whimpered as tears rolled down her face.

"Bad like what?" Mira asked, sitting down next to her friend and taking her hand.

"War, Mira. A war is coming. I saw a huge, black box, and I felt death. I don't know what it is," Evangeline trembled. "And I saw a symbol. It looked like two hammers crossed over each other at the handle." Mira froze.

"Tartaros," Master said gravely as he walked over to the table. "That is the symbol of Tartaros."

"Why would Tartaros be after us? What's going on?" Mira asked, very confused.

"Guys, something horrible has happened," Jet shouted as he entered the guild loudly. "The Magic Council has been destroyed. There are no survivors yet." Everyone's eyes went wide.

"Gone? They're all dead?" Evangeline said is disbelief.

"They don't know what happened yet," Jet said. "There was a huge explosion and then Era was destroyed."

"Explosion?" Master asked. He furrowed his brows.

"Tartaros, surely," Evangeline said.

"We must wait until we have more information. I pray that this is not Tartaros. Evangeline, if it is, you will be sitting out this fight," Master told her. She closed her eyes and nodded.

"It's for the best. Now we must wait, and hope."

* * *

"Help," a strangled voice called out inside the guild several hours later. It was dark, and many members had returned to their homes for the night, with the exception of Evangeline, the Strauss siblings, Master, Levy, Gajeel, Lucas, and Team Natsu. They all looked at the door and saw the Thunder Legion looking terrible, carrying an even more terrible looking Laxus.

"Oh Gods," Evangeline gasped, tears coming to her eyes.

"What happened? Help get them to the infirmary," Master commanded. Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel went to help get the team upstairs.

"Magic Bane Particles. Laxus got the worst of it," Freed gasped out. Evangeline felt her tears spill over. Lisanna wrapped her arms around Evangeline and held onto her. Lucas also went over and hugged the crying woman that rescued him.

"Evangeline, Porlyusica wants you in there," Gray called out. She trembled as she was released from the hugs she was in and went up the stairs. Gray wrapped and arm around her shoulder and went with her back into the infirmary.

"What happened, Freed? Why is Laxus worse than you are?" Master asked again.

"We were at 8-Island," he started, then coughed. "Laxus went out for something. He came back, and so did someone else. The other man attacked. Said his name was Tempester. We fought him. Laxus beat him. Then he released the Bane Particles. They were spreading fast. Laxus didn't want anyone in the town to die. So, he inhaled them. As much as he could."

"Stupid man. I will not lie. He likely will not survive. His only chance is for you to get some of Tempester's blood for an antidote. Otherwise, it's highly unlikely he will survive more than a few days," Porlyusica said, and Evangeline felt her world shatter. She couldn't hear what was going on. She just felt her heart pounding in her chest, and she couldn't breathe.

"Ev?" Gray asked her, but she didn't respond. Her eyes were wide, and she turned pale. "Evangeline!"

"Get her to a bed, now," Porlyusica shouted. Gray swept her up and carried her over to the nearest open bed. Then, Evangeline's world went dark.

* * *

The first thing Evangeline noticed was that it was dark. Then, she noticed the dripping water. It was as though she was in a cave.

"Hello?" she called out. "Hello?"

All that answered was an echo.

"Aspen?" she called out again, hoping that her demon was there with her.

"Evangeline!" she heard faintly.

"Aspen, where are you?" Evangeline replied.

"Evangeline, stay there! I'm coming to you," Aspen called out. The echo was louder, as if she was getting closer. A few minutes later, Aspen was in the same room as her. Evangeline saw the demon's glowing red eyes. The demon came over to her and wrapped her arms around her host.

"I was so worried. I saw what was happening and I couldn't stop it. I'm getting so much weaker," Aspen sighed.

"Where are we?" Evangeline asked her.

"I don't know, to be completely honest," Aspen admitted. "I woke up in here as soon as you passed out. You've been out for about an hour, now."

"An hour? Damn," Evangeline shook her head.

"Now, I've been looking through some of the caves. Do you feel the draft?" Aspen said. Evangeline nodded. "That means there's an exit. I don't know what it will lead to, but I think that's where we need to go."

"Um, I can't see," Evangeline told her demon. Aspen paused.

"Can you use your magic in here?" the demon asked. Evangeline shook her head. Aspen sighed.

"Very well. It's too dangerous for you to walk around in the dark. I'll carry you," Aspen said as she picked Evangeline up.

Aspen carried Evangeline through the cave while Evangeline was deep in thought. Where could they be? She knew she had passed out, but she assumed it was from grief due to the almost inevitable death of her husband. She'd be raising a baby alone.

A while later, the wind got stronger, and Evangeline could hear something. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was something.

"What is that sound?" Evangeline asked her demon.

"I'm not sure," Aspen responded. "I think it's friendly, but again, I'm not sure."

A few minutes later, Evangeline saw a light. The metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel. But in this case, it was literal. Unless it was the light of death. She didn't know at this point. They made it close enough where Evangeline had enough light to walk on her own, so Aspen set her down.

"Well, onward to destiny, I guess," Evangeline sighed. Aspen left the cave first, making sure Evangeline would be safe, and Evangeline followed closely behind. What she saw amazed her.

She was standing on a cliff overlooking Magnolia. There was a battle taking place. She saw a black cube engulfing most of the city.

"What is that?" Evangeline asked, having no idea what could be going on.

"That is a dark magic spell. Those inside the Cube cannot move. They cannot breathe. They will die," Aspen said.

"Is this the future, then?" Evangeline wondered. Aspen nodded beside her.

"Something here is something we must witness before we awaken," Aspen said, and the scene shifted from the two being on the cliff to being down in the city. They were near the Cube, and they were watching Laxus fighting Tempester again. This time, he won, using red lightning. Another demon approached, and Evangeline watched herself jump in the way to save Laxus, thus getting blasted apart. The scene then faded to white.

"So. One of us has to die, then," Evangeline said in shock. Aspen clenched her fists. "Laxus or I will die."

"No. I won't let that happen," Aspen snapped. "I won't allow it."

"Aspen, what-" Aspen then faded from her view. "Aspen!" The scene got darker until it was black.

* * *

Evangeline groaned as she opened her eyes.

"Ugh, what," she muttered, looking around the room. It was mostly empty except for the Thunder Legion and Porlyusica.

"Oh, stupid girl, don't scare me like that again," Porlyusica said as she rushed over to Evangeline.

"What happened? On this side," Evangeline asked.

"You fainted, dear. But then you didn't wake up. It's been several hours. Tartaros had made their move. They are here now," Porlyusica told her. "And this side? Did you see something?" Evangeline was silent, and Porlyusica had her answer.

"Sacrifices will have to be made. Either Laxus or I will die. Others will make massive sacrifices. Fairy Tail won't be the same," Evangeline said gravely. Porlyusica's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, dear. I cannot imagine," Porlyusica said. "Now, drink this, please." Evangeline drank the potion Porlyusica gave her.

"What is it for?" Evangeline asked after she finished it.

"To keep you safe," Porlyusica said, and Evangeline fell asleep.

"Thank you, Aspen, for telling me what she was planning. I cannot believe this stupid girl," Porlyusica mumbled, shaking her head as she walked away.

"I can't believe Laxus is…" Evergreen, who was now awake, but not doing well, trailed off.

"He'd much rather keep her alive than let her sacrifice herself for him. He'd rather she and their child live on," Freed muttered.

"I can't even imagine what she'll be going through when she wakes up," Evergreen whispered sadly, a tear making its way down her cheek.

"I don't think she'll be able to function, honestly," Freed said, shaking his head.

"She was bad enough after they divorced. She…" Evergreen trailed off.

"She'll have us," Bickslow muttered, speaking for the first time. "She'll have us, and that kid will have us. And we will protect them both with our lives. That's what boss asked us to do before he inhaled the Bane Particles."

"We will."

* * *

Evangeline was fighting against the potion the had put her to sleep. Finally, she woke up. She looked around and saw Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow still there, but sleeping. She couldn't find Laxus.

"No, I won't let you die. There's got to be something I can do," Evangeline muttered, getting out of bed and moving as fast as she could to the place she knew Laxus would be.

She made it to the spot and watched as Laxus finished Tempester with red lightning.

"Laxus, you have to get out of there," Evangeline shouted.

"Evangeline? What the hell are you doing out here?" Laxus shouted back, he had no idea why the hell she was there.

"Trying to save you, now come here, please," Evangeline begged, desperate for him to move. Unfortunately, he didn't move fast enough. The last thing she could do was teleport in front of him.

"No!" Both Evangeline and Laxus heard. Aspen appeared in front of Evangeline, breaking her bond, and destroying the demon that had been about to kill Evangeline.

"Aspen!" Evangeline screamed. Aspen collapsed to the ground in front of her and Evangeline kneeled down next to her.

"I couldn't let either of you die. It wasn't fair," Aspen said weakly, a tear streaming down her cheek.

"But now you'll die, too. I had a plan, Aspen!" Evangeline cried, holding onto the demon. Aspen shook her head.

"It wouldn't have worked. Someone had to die here, Evangeline. I'd rather it be me," Aspen said, raising a hand to her host… No. Her friend's face. "Thank you for showing me what a life could be. I'll always be with you."

"No, Aspen, please," Evangeline sobbed.

"Goodbye, Evangeline. I love you," Aspen whispered. She closed her eyes and slumped down.

"No!" Evangeline screamed. She was in agony. She felt like she was losing part of herself. She clung to her demon's body. She didn't see that Aspen's body started glowing, and she started to fade. Evangeline didn't see what happened after Aspen faded, but Laxus did. He saw a mark appear on Evangeline's arm: an angel with one wing. The same statue that Aspen had been sealed in. Her true form.

Laxus picked her up and carried her back to the guild hall. She was sobbing on his shoulder, and he could do nothing to help her. He wanted to be mad that she tried to stop a blast from one of the members of Tartaros but seeing her in so much pain didn't let him be upset right now. He could be upset later, when the danger was gone. And when Evangeline wasn't so upset.

* * *

He made it back to the guild with Evangeline and brought her upstairs to the infirmary just so she could see if she was physically alright. She was still crying hard.

Those that were in the infirmary were stunned into silence. The Thunder Legion and Porlyusica thought that Laxus would be dead. Or Evangeline. One of the two. But they were both together, and Evangeline was sobbing.

"What happened?" Freed asked.

"Aspen sacrificed herself to save us," Laxus said after he sat down on a bed, still holding Evangeline. She was clinging to him too much for him to set her down on her own. He adjusted her in his lap so he could stroke her hair to try and get her to calm down.

"What? How?" Evergreen asked, she had no idea how it was possible.

"Aspen broke the seal," Laxus sighed. Evangeline wasn't crying so hard and was slowly falling asleep. As soon as he heard her heart slow down to the point it usually did while she slept, he continued.

"Aspen broke the seal, and the protected us from one of the demons of Tartaros. I didn't even see which one, but he was a threat. Evangeline tried to get me to get out of the way, like she had seen it or something," Laxus said, then he paused and sighed.

"She saw it, didn't see?" Laxus asked. Freed nodded, but it was Bickslow that spoke.

"For some reason, Aspen and Evangeline both saw this one. Evangeline passed out after she heard you were… Anyway, Aspen took over after they had seen what the vision held, but Evangeline hadn't woken up yet. Aspen said that Evangeline or Laxus would die. She had Porlyusica make Evangeline a sleeping potion to knock her out, but Evangeline fought against it. We had fallen asleep again and she snuck out. Then we woke up and she was gone, and we thought the worst," Bickslow trailed off.

"So that's what happened," Laxus sighed. "Aspen started fading, but I think she sealed part of herself into Ev again. She's got a mark on her arm now, not that you can see it right now. It's Aspen's true form: the angel with one wing. I don't really know what it is or what it means. That'll be something to figure out after this is over."

"It seems like it is. At least, Tartaros. The Cube has fallen apart," Freed said. Laxus nodded.

"Now to wait for the all clear. I hope no one else has dealt with as much shit as Ev, but I feel like several people will."

* * *

Sure enough, the war with Tartaros was hard on everyone. The slayers that were raised by dragons found out that their dragons were inside them all along to prevent them from turning into dragons themselves. Acnologia killed Igneel. All the other dragons also died. The slayers were lost, all in their own ways.

Lucy wouldn't tell anyone what had happened, but Evangeline saw Aquarius's key was broken. She knew from her research on Celestial Magic that breaking a zodiac key would summon the Spirit King. That also meant that Lucy could no longer summon Aquarius.

Evangeline herself wasn't faring well mentally. She had part of her soul ripped away, basically. She spent most of her days sitting at a table in the guild while everyone was recovering. She didn't talk. She just had her hand on her arm where Aspen's mark was.

Laxus would live. He had gotten an antidote for the Bane Particles, but he would have to figure out another method to keep them at bay simply because he had taken in so many. It was a miracle he had lasted long enough to get the antidote. Freed brought up he might be able to use Rune Magic to keep it under control. They started on that right away.

Gray was as quiet as his sister. He was her silent guardian, always just an arm's length away. He had gone through his own trauma, getting his father back, then losing him again. He'd also become a Devil Slayer. He had no idea what that really entailed. He knew that Evangeline's demon would have been susceptible to his magic because she was a true demon. That probably didn't help her when she had found out.

Natsu left with Happy on a year long training trip after Igneel's death. He didn't stick around long enough to hear what had happened to everyone. He was heartbroken in his own right, Evangeline assumed.

And poor Lucas. The boy's parents had just come to Magnolia. They'd just recovered. They saw the Cube and went to find their son, who was at the guild. They didn't find him, though. They found Jackal. The only thing Lucas found of them were their wedding rings. The poor boy went catatonic after that. Thankfully, he had found solace in his friends Romeo and Wendy. He let them in and shared his thoughts and feelings, and they were there to support him. He'd moved in with Romeo and Macao, and he'd stay with them for as long as he needed.

Finally, once everyone had started on the road to physical recovery, Master made an announcement.

"As of this day forward, Fairy Tail will be no more. Carry on, children. Do not forget the bonds you have formed here," was all he said. The guild was silent, and slowly members started filtering out. Evangeline couldn't believe it. She'd lost everything.

"Not everything, Evangeline," Gray said, putting his hand on her head as he went to leave. For the last time. He removed his hand and left.

"Come on, Ev. Let's go home," Laxus told Evangeline softly. She stood up numbly from the table and walked with him back home.

"I can't believe it's all gone."

* * *

Two weeks later, Laxus, Evangeline, and the Thunder Legion (but mostly Laxus and the Thunder Legion) decided that it was time to find a new guild. The one they picked was Blue Pegasus. The guild was welcoming, but it wasn't home.

"Now, dearie, what's on your mind?" Bob asked her as she sat at the bar picking at a salad with her fork. She shrugged. Bob sighed. "You miss home, don't you, dearie?" Evangeline nodded slowly. Bob came around and sat next to her.

"I know how hard it is to lose a friend. To lose a home. And you've lost all of that in a matter of days, dearie. You aren't letting yourself mourn that loss. But, just become it's gone doesn't mean that your adventures are over. You have a huge new adventure beginning very soon. So, let yourself be upset, dearie. Then you can look forward to the future," Bob said, patting her shoulder. With that, he left her to her thoughts. Laxus and the Thunder Legion were off at Era helping figure out an interim magic council while everything was being rebuilt. So, she was alone. Again.

"I think I'm going to find Lucy," Evangeline said quietly. Bob went over to her.

"Lucy, the Celestial Mage?" Bob asked. Evangeline nodded.

"Yeah. She… She also lost someone. I think talking to her might be good," Evangeline said slowly. Bob smiled at her and nodded.

"There should be a train leaving in thirty minutes for Magnolia. Now, go see your friend, dearie. I'll let your hubby know where you've went if he calls," Bob said. Evangeline nodded, and gave him a small smile. It was the best she had. She didn't feel happy anymore, but in that moment, she felt less shitty.

"Off to see Lucy I go."

Evangeline knocked on Lucy's door.

"Coming," her blonde friend called. Lucy opened the door and was extremely surprised to see Evangeline there.

"Evangeline," Lucy breathed.

"Hi, Lucy," Evangeline said softly. Lucy stepped away from the door and waved her inside.

"Please, come in. I wasn't expecting… After everything…" Lucy trailed off. Lucy motioned to the couch so they could sit down to talk.

"I know. I made the decision to come here earlier today after Bob talked to me," Evangeline explained.

"So, you've joined Blue Pegasus?" Lucy asked. Evangeline nodded and showed Lucy her mark.

"I couldn't get it in the same place as the old one. It would feel too real," Evangeline said. Lucy nodded. Lucy had grabbed a pillow off her couch and was holding it.

"I can understand that. I was surprised, you know. How people left so fast," Lucy said sadly.

"I know. I was too. But the other four wanted to go back to work. They wanted to keep moving so their sorrow wasn't consuming them. Laxus hasn't really talked to me that much since we made the move. Given, he took off on a job to help rebuilt Era and the council. But I don't know. He doesn't… He's not who I needed to talk to right now, I think," Evangeline tried to explain.

"How so?" Lucy wondered. Evangeline showed Lucy her right arm, where the mark Aspen left on her arm was. Lucy had heard about what had happened and understood her pain.

"I needed to talk to someone who understood my pain," Evangeline whispered. "What happened, Lucy? I see it in your eyes that you know."

"Everyone was trapped. I was the only one outside, at least, that's what I thought. Everyone was going to die. I couldn't summon more spirits. I would have died. Aquarius was out and begged me to break her key to summon the Spirit King. It was the only way to save everyone. So, I did. I killed her," Lucy said painfully. Her eyes filled with tears.

"Aspen and I saw a vision of the future. We saw the Cube. Then the scene changed. Laxus was fighting Tempester and took him down. Then another demon was coming, then Aspen and I watched as I jumped in front of a beam meant for Laxus. I died. Or Laxus would die. I didn't want him to die and leave me alone. Aspen tried to stop me, but she failed. I ended up in the same spot, about to be hit, but she undid the seal and sacrificed herself to save me," Evangeline shared. It was only right, since Lucy shared her story.

"It felt like…" Lucy struggled to find the right words.

"Part of you died too," Evangeline suggested. Lucy nodded sadly.

"Part of me died, too," Lucy confirmed.

"Remember you aren't alone. I know it hurt you when Natsu left without saying a word. It wasn't fair of him. But when does he ever think before he does something?" Evangeline sighed. Lucy nodded.

"I'll get him back for it later. He will come back," Lucy said.

"He will. Everyone will eventually. Something tells me that we just have to hold onto our hope. Without hope, what's the point in living to fight another day?" Evangeline said before she realized what she said. Both women were silent after that.

"You were amazed you just said that, weren't you?" Lucy asked. Evangeline nodded.

"I think it's exactly what we both needed to hear. Here's to hope, then," Evangeline said, smiling a genuine smile for the first time since everything had started.

"Here's to hope. Now, I'm hoping you planned on staying here tonight because I am not letting you leave just yet."

* * *

The next day Evangeline left Lucy's home feeling a bit lighter, emotionally at least. She was not physically any lighter thanks to her baby. She made it back to Blue Pegasus feeling much better, and the members of Blue Pegasus noticed right away.

"Lady Evangeline, you seem to be feeling better today," Hibiki stated, sitting next to her at a table. She smiled slightly.

"I guess you could say I've had a revelation that I'm not the only one who suffered, and that the only thing we need to have right now is hope," Evangeline said. Hibiki nodded.

"Truer words may have never been spoken. Welcome back, Evangeline. We all missed you," Hibiki smiled at her.

* * *

Laxus and the Thunder Legion returned two weeks after that, and just in time because Evangeline and Laxus's baby decided that it was go time. A whole month early.

Yuri Dreyar, middle name to be decided, was born at 5 pounds 1 ounce, and he was basically a carbon copy of his father. Labor was not kind on Evangeline, but nothing her whole pregnancy had been. She was just glad she knew what to do now. Babies didn't scare her. But she decided she never wanted to get pregnant again, even though Yuri was very cute.

"I think his eyes are going to turn green," Evangeline said a few days after Yuri was born. She was still sore, and tired, and feeling miserable, but she had her baby now.

"What makes you say that?" Laxus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"His eyes are really dark blue," she stated, as if it was obvious.

"And?" Laxus asked again. He truly had no idea what that meant.

"Did you not read anything I gave you? Geez. Anyway, all babies are born with blue eyes. But most babies end up developing darker eyes over time, especially if their eyes are very dark blue when they are born. His eyes are dark blue. Green eyes run in my family, so it would make sense that he has green eyes," Evangeline explained. Laxus blinked.

"Really? And no, I figured that is what you are for, my dear," Laxus said. Evangeline sighed.

"That's not how this works, Laxus. You cannot just assume because I am Mom that I will be doing everything. You know better," Evangeline scolded. She was irritated. He had been distant for majority of her pregnancy and had done nothing to prepare for their son. He sighed.

"I know, I haven't been doing anything. I've sucked. I just…" he trailed off. Evangeline sighed.

"Everything has changed so fast, and neither of us was ready for it. That doesn't excuse what you did, though. You were absent, for lack of a better word. I suffered with the guild to support me, but I didn't have you. I felt alone. I still feel alone, even though you are sitting right there. Please, don't let me be alone anymore, Laxus. We've been through enough. Stop running away," Evangeline said. Laxus frowned, knowing he was guilty.

"I won't. Not anymore. No more jobs for a long time. Just us three, as a family, getting to know each other again."

* * *

The next month was Christmas, and Evangeline was super excited. Her baby was a month old, and it was his first Christmas. Evangeline still didn't feel great, but she had some of her energy back. She used it to go around their new, second home ready for the season. She made Laxus get on the roof and hang Christmas lights, and they put up a tree. She decorated all of the tables, doorways, fireplace mantles, and stairways as well. It looked as though Christmas had looked at the Dreyar household and threw up all over it. And Evangeline loved it.

Laxus had become a good father. Yuri and Evangeline became his priority. He spent most of his day with his wife doting on his son. He loved his son.

On Christmas morning, Yuri woke up at five in the morning for another feed. Evangeline thankfully slept through Yuri's soft cries. Laxus picked him up and carried him downstairs to the kitchen to get him a bottle ready.

"Well, kiddo, it's Christmas. That means we gotta surprise your momma. She loves Christmas and I'm sure she will make you love it, too," Laxus told baby Yuri while Yuri was sucking on his bottle.

"I think I'm going to keep you down here so I can make your momma some pancakes and surprise her with breakfast in bed. She hasn't gotten much a break since you decided to come a month early. You scared the daylights outta me, really. I was really scared that you weren't going to be okay. Then I was scared that your momma wasn't going to be okay. Then I was scared you both weren't going to be okay.

"Now, many years ago, your momma and I had a friend at our old guild named Alice. Alice was like a second mother to your momma. Alice had a baby named Romeo, and everyone was really excited. Your momma and I left on a job for a few days, but when we got back, we found out that Alice died from complications of when she had Romeo. We ended up taking in Romeo for a few months because his dad wasn't ready to be a father alone. That's what I was afraid of.

"I didn't know if I was ready to be a father yet when your momma told me she was pregnant with you. Hell, neither of us was ready. We still aren't. We are scared that we will do something wrong. But I think that's just how this whole parenting thing is. It's scary. You never know what's going to happen. I promise you, though, that we are going to do our best to give you the best life we can," Laxus finished.

"That was quite the speech," Evangeline said from the doorway leading into the kitchen. "When did you decide to write that one." Laxus shook his head. Evangeline walked over to him.

"Hey, Ev, you are intruding on my very important conversation with my son. And you also came down too early and your pancakes aren't ready yet," Laxus said, then leaned over to kiss her.

"My, my, I'm very sorry. I'll go back to bed," Evangeline said, shaking her head. She was smiling, though.

"Good, now that she's gone, we can continue our conversation. Now, our old guild was called Fairy Tail. I hope that you get to be part of it someday, but it doesn't exist right now. Well, it does, but it doesn't. It was disbanded by your great grandpa, who I know will love you when he meets you, because we were in danger. You were actually named after your great-great grandpa, who was one of the founders of Fairy Tail.

"Now, back to Fairy Tail. This guild is the craziest, loudest, weirdest place in all of Earthland. It's the perfect place for everyone to go who needs a home. Your momma and I grew up there. We were there basically our whole lives. We are really sad that you aren't able to meet everyone, yet, but you will someday. But just because the guild is disbanded doesn't mean that it's gone. It lives on in the hearts of all the members who have been a part of it. You have it too, kiddo. You just don't know it yet," Laxus finished. Yuri had finished his bottle.

Upstairs, Evangeline was still listening to Laxus speaking to their son.

"Fairy Tail lives on in the hearts of all its members. Even if we cannot see each other, even if we are separated far apart from each other, we'll always be watching after you. All of you. Forever."

**A little bit of a shorter chapter because I didn't want another 15k word chapter. I also didn't feel like I needed to go into depth about all the fights that happened with Tartaros. I also changed some things, I know. It needed to fit what I wanted to do. I wanted to end on a happier note since this is a heavier chapter. I don't know if I'm completely happy with this, to be honest, but I can't really feel emotions right now because I'm depressed again! So, I'm sorry if this chapter isn't heavy enough for the events that occur. I may come back and rewrite portions of it some time in the future, so please stay tuned in future chapters if I say it was updated so you can go back and read it. **


	12. Present: The New Year

**Chapter 12! This will be the first in a number of small chapters of snippets of the Dreyar family's life as Yuri grows up. **

_January 1__st__, x792_

Evangeline woke up to find Laxus and Yuri not in their room. She figured Laxus had taken him downstairs so as to not wake her up. She looked at the clock and saw it was 9am. She hadn't slept in that long in over a month. She sat up and stretched her arms above her head.

"Mmm, I can't believe he didn't wake me up. This feels nice, though," she mumbled to herself. She got out of bed carefully and put her robe on and went downstairs. She'd make the bed later.

"Someone decided not to wake me up this morning," she said when she walked into the kitchen, but she was surprised to find her boys weren't there. "Huh, wonder where they went." She went into the living room and saw Laxus asleep with Yuri on his chest. Evangeline smiled and shook her head.

"I need a picture of this," Evangeline mumbled as she went into the kitchen and grabbed their camera. She had made sure they had a camera available to take pictures of their baby boy, since he would grow up so much without his family. Fairy Tail would appreciate the pictures. She snapped a picture of the two and then went back to the kitchen and made herself some eggs for breakfast and a cup of plain black tea.

Around half an hour later, Yuri started crying and Laxus woke up. Evangeline watched them from her place at the kitchen table.

"Someone's finally awake," she teased. Laxus shook his head as he went over to her and handed Yuri off to her.

"What time is it even?" Laxus asked as he made up a bottle for Yuri.

"Around 10 now I believe. I got to sleep until 9 and it was amazing," Evangeline smiled.

"I didn't even mean to fall asleep. We got up at about 6 this morning," Laxus told her. She nodded. A few minutes later, Laxus handed Evangeline Yuri's bottle. Yuri was very excited about it.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Laxus asked. She shrugged.

"Probably go to Magnolia and visit my parents. It's the first day of the new year," Evangeline suggested.

"Yeah, then we can swing by the house. I'm assuming you want to go see Lucy, too?" Laxus said. Evangeline nodded.

"Yeah, if she's there. I heard she's gotten a job with Sorcerer's Weekly as a junior writer now, so she might be in Crocus," Evangeline sighed.

"Doesn't hurt to check," Laxus reminded.

"I suppose. So, what time does the next train leave?" Evangeline asked.

"I think at noon. So, we've got about an hour and a half to get ready," Laxus said. "I guess I'll get a shower in while you finish up with him. Then trade off?" Evangeline nodded.

"You haven't met your grandma and grandpa Hastings yet. They would have loved you so much, baby boy. Unfortunately, I lost them when I was still a kid. That doesn't mean I stopped loving them, though. Even when someone is gone, they live on in your heart. Now, you also haven't met your Auntie Lucy. I met her on a train when she was just a little kid," Evangeline told the baby who was blinking at her as he finished his bottle. She adjusted his so she could burp him.

"Magnolia is where home used to be. It always will be, truly. We'll bring you by the house, and we'll show you the room we hope you grow up in. We got it all ready for you months and months ago, before we were attacked by Tartaros. You'll like our house. That one is home. This one… It isn't the same. We had to get something fast and this is the only thing we liked well enough. Now, let's go get you ready for today so I can hand you off to Daddy so I can get ready," Evangeline finished, and she carried Yuri upstairs and into his room where she put him in a onesie and some pants and a shirt. It wasn't much, and he would have to have his baby snow suit on since it was winter, but she thought he was adorable.

"Your turn, Ev," Laxus said from the doorway to Yuri's room. She glanced back at him.

"Just in time. I'll try and be quick so we can stop by the guild before we go," Evangeline said, handing Yuri off to Laxus as she went to shower.

Sure enough, she did shower quickly. She got dressed in some of her maternity leggings and a sweater dress. She made sure her earrings and her necklace were on before she left her room. She put her hair up in a bun, because Yuri loved to pull on it.

"That was fast," Laxus blinked as he saw her come down the stairs.

"I wanted to see everyone. I can get ready fast if I want to," Evangeline shrugged. She grabbed Yuri's diaper bag with all the things he would need over the next few days on their little trip.

"You've got a bag ready to go?" Evangeline asked. He nodded and pointed over to his bag near the door. Evangeline put his bag in her requip space, as well as Yuri's diaper bag. She had already put hers away.

"Let's go," Evangeline smiled, and the family left their house.

* * *

"Happy New Year everyone!" Evangeline exclaimed once she arrived at Blue Pegasus.

"Happy New Year," everyone replied. There were many cheers with beers and other drinks.

"We didn't know if you guys would make it here," Evergreen said as she approached the three with Freed and Bickslow.

"We had a bit of a slow morning, but we wouldn't miss it," Evangeline smiled. She was happy to see her friends, but deep down she still felt like something was missing. Her whole family wasn't there because Fairy Tail no longer existed. At least, not as a guild.

"I can imagine. I take it you won't be staying here too long?" Freed concluded. Laxus and Evangeline nodded.

"We're going to go back to Magnolia. We want to see the house, visit my parents… See if anyone is still hanging around," Evangeline explained.

"Well, I guess we should be heading out. Train leaves soon and we need to get on it," Laxus sighed.

"We'll see you when you get back then, bosses," Bickslow nodded to them. The family left the guild hall to get to the train station.

* * *

The train ride itself was fine. It took a few hours to get to Magnolia, but thankfully Yuri slept through the whole ride, as did Laxus. It was snowing when they arrived.

"Hopefully this doesn't turn into a full on winter storm," Laxus sighed. Evangeline shrugged.

"If it does, we'll just be here for a few more days. It's not like it will take that long to clear the tracks and the roads. And besides, we were planning on being here for a bit anyway. If we can't go visit my parents and your mom today, we can do it later," Evangeline reminded. Laxus nodded.

"True. Head to the house first, then?" he asked. Evangeline nodded.

"Probably for the best. Yuri will be waking up soon, anyway," Evangeline said. They made their way to their house on the other side of town.

The house was a bit dusty, but everything was exactly where they left it. She saw the haphazardly thrown pillows on her couch from the day they left their home for Blue Pegasus. The kitchen had clean dishes stacked on the counter, waiting to be put away. There was still old mail piled up on the kitchen table.

"I thought we had left it cleaner than this," Laxus sighed.

"No, we didn't really put in much effort to clean this place. I can't believe we actually don't really live here anymore," Evangeline said sadly. Laxus set Yuri's carrier down and wrapped Evangeline up in a hug.

"I wish we could have stayed, Ev. I really do. You know we couldn't, though. We love this city for the family we had here. Almost everyone has gone on their own path. We have to let it go," Laxus told her.

"I don't want to, though. There's so much I've had to let go of in such a short time. Things I never thought I'd lose. I haven't even tried to process everything either because of Yuri," Evangeline whispered. "I feel empty, Laxus. Part of me died that day. I thought I was okay after talking to Lucy, too."

"Ev, Aspen was part of you for the majority of your life. Losing her isn't going to be something you get over in a conversation. It's going to take time. And you haven't exactly had time to just focus on yourself. That's my fault. While we're here, just focus on yourself for once. I'll take care of everything else," Laxus said. Evangeline sighed, but knew that he wasn't going to let her not do what he told her to. She knew she needed time alone.

"Alright. I will. But sometimes I will be just sitting in a room with my baby because I need to," Evangeline smiled. Laxus chuckled.

"I know, Mama Bear."

* * *

The next day, the young family set out to go visit some family graves. They went to Evangeline's parents first, since they were closest.

"Mom, Dad, meet your grandson, Yuri. He's already been a troublemaker for how miserable he made me, but he's so adorable I had to forgive him," Evangeline introduced. Yuri was asleep once again, but she didn't care. This was more for her, since she still had guilt over their deaths.

"She's leaving out the part where I was being an idiot again and wasn't around enough for her. I can imagine the disappointed looks now," Laxus muttered. Evangeline laughed at his statement because it was entirely true. He was an idiot, and every time he was when they were younger, her parents just gave him a very disappointed look.

"He's good now, though. I daresay he's almost a better father than you, Dad," Evangeline teased.

"I wouldn't go that far, Ev," Laxus argued.

"Says the one who keeps waking up in the middle of the night to take Yuri, so I don't wake up," Evangeline said, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever you say, Ev. Whatever you say," Laxus sighed in defeat.

"I always win, too. You guys would be proud of him. How much he's grown," Evangeline smiled. Laxus looked away, embarrassed.

"You would be mad at me for screwing up too many times. Don't listen to her," Laxus muttered.

"No, don't listen to him. You know how he is. Anyway, we still have to go visit his mom. We haven't been to see her in a very long time, so we figured we would make a trip to introduce her to her grandson as well. Then, we'll be off to go see Lucy, and then we might be staying here for a few more days. I miss Magnolia. Life just isn't the same anywhere else," Evangeline said. Yuri was in her arms, and she stood up with him and started walking to the other side of the cemetery to find Laxus's mother.

It didn't take long to find her grave, and it was obvious that no one had been there in a very long time. While the staff upkept the grave itself, there were no pictures, flowers, or other things anywhere on her plot. Evangeline felt Laxus's mood drop and she knew he felt extremely guilty about not coming by more often.

"Do you want a moment alone here?" Evangeline asked him. He hesitated, but then nodded slowly. "I'll be back when you are ready for me."

With that, Evangeline left with Yuri, and Laxus was left on his own with his mother.

"Hey, Mom. I'm sorry it's been a while," he started. "It's been years since I've been here. I've made a lot of mistakes. Almost became like Ivan. I found someone like you to stop me, though. You probably remember her. Evangeline. I married her when we were nineteen. I know I told you about that last time, but I didn't tell you a lot. Then I screwed up and we ended up divorcing. Then here we are, married again, and now we have a son.

"I guess I'll jump back to the beginning. After you died, Ivan got worse. Much worse. I was still always sick, and Evangeline's parents and Gramps ended up taking care of me a lot. At least, until Ivan got his hands on a Lightning Dragon's lacrima. I've got a fake eye and a scar now. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about what was actually in the lacrima, just that I had one implanted in me. After that, I got better. I got stronger. Eventually, Gramps let me and Evangeline go on jobs in Magnolia, and around then is when we met Gray. Ev's parents took him in after she begged them to. He's her little brother, basically. I don't know how he would have turned out if Ev's parents hadn't taken him in, really. They made sure he did all his school work and he ended up being really analytical and a good planner. That took a while to build up.

"After Gray joined, then we got a few other kids around our age. Then Ev's parents were killed by a dark guild. That's when our lives got a lot harder. Ev wasn't the same for a long time. She watched them die, Mom. I couldn't protect her from that. I put off taking the S-Class trials so I could take care of her. Thankfully we got her back after we took a trip to Crocus. More kids around our age joined and we looked after them. Protected them. Ev called them her ducklings because they followed her everywhere and always wanted to do things with her.

"Ivan was expelled and Ev and I got into a fight. It wasn't really a fight, per say, but I ended up hurting her and I didn't mean to. While I was still away, she ended up getting into a fight with another guild member then lost control of her magic. I ended up being able to find her and help her get control again, but after that neither of us took a job for a while. A few weeks after that, Romeo was born. Ev was obsessed with him, and I was worried that she'd want a kid right then and there because she loved him so much. I ended up dragging her on a job, but while we were gone, Alice, Romeo's mother and Ev's mother figure, died.

"Ev and I raised Romeo for three months. We barely left the house because he was so tiny and fragile, and Ev wasn't in any place to be near the guild again either. We went by sometimes so Macao could see his son, but he just couldn't take care of his son full time. At the three month mark, Macao was finally ready to take care of his son. That doesn't mean that Ev stopped being his mother, though. Romeo still goes to her for any issues he has because he has a bond with her that I think only sons get with their mothers. I'm glad he got that chance when I didn't.

"After that, I started taking jobs with a team, and Ev went solo. Ev didn't like my team, and they didn't like her. She ended up fighting them because they kept going after her. She wiped the floor with them, and they learned some respect. Time kind of flew by after that. I got S-Class, we got engaged, she got S-Class, we got married, we bought a house. Life was great. Until my magic started driving me crazy. There was some dark magic from when I had the lacrima implanted that activated when Ivan was expelled. It only started getting really bad about a year after we got married.

"I ended up attacking her. I slipped up to the darkness that was poisoning me, and I attacked her. I disappeared for weeks after that, and she lost her magic. She was eventually able to do small things, but she wasn't the same. We got a divorce, and Gray ended up helping her a lot. I don't know what would have happened if he hadn't been around to support her, really. I gave up on fighting that darkness that was there because I didn't have a reason to anymore. This led to me making everyone in Fairy Tail fight each other, and my expulsion. Ev managed to purify the dark magic from me before I destroyed the whole city with her light magic.

"I wandered for a while. I didn't really know what to do. I was completely alone for the first time my whole life. I traveled and saw things, figured out what I wanted to do in the future. Then Tenrou happened. Ev and I got together there before the dragon made the island disappear.

"We slept for seven years then we finally got to go home. Of course, we didn't know we were asleep for seven years until our friends told us. The world changed and we were left behind. Our magic didn't continue to get stronger while we were asleep, and everyone else's did. I finally was reinstated in the guild before we were sent off on a training trip before the Grand Magic Games.

"On that trip, I learned more about my dragon slayer powers. I faced the Tempest and freed it. I gained the power of that storm, as well as more dragon slayer powers from the dragon soul that resided inside of my lacrima. She chose me, Mom. The dragon chose me.

"Then the games happened, and I beat Ivan's guild alone. We beat Sabertooth, who had the spot as top guild after we disappeared. Ev showed her power, and everyone knows not to mess with her now. Not that anyone really knows she can't use her magic again, but I think it will come back after she heals from losing Aspen. I don't know for sure, though. I'll get back to that in a bit. Anyway, after the games ended, we were attacked by dragons. I died, Mom. Then someone named Ultear saved us all with a time spell. That's why I'm still here. Without her, I wouldn't have gotten a chance to meet my son.

"After the games, Ev told me she was pregnant. Yes, she did compete even though she knew. It's fine, though. She wasn't in any real danger, especially since her demon wouldn't let anything happen to either of them. We were able to keep going on jobs for a while. We ended up saving a really gifted kid from a life in prison. His name is Lucas. He's still alive, probably still traveling with Macao and Romeo. After we saved him is when Ev got sick. And she was really, really sick. I felt really guilty, and my own inner dragon was tearing me apart and the real dragon was trying to calm me down. It didn't end well for me. Finally, though, Ev got a potion that made her sickness go away. Everything was going to be fine, then, after one last job. It wasn't, though. Tartaros attacked.

"Things were never the same after Tartaros. I breathed in a ton of bane particles that almost killed me, but I did it to try and save as many people as I could. I didn't save everyone, though. Then, Ev saw something and knew one of the two of us were going to die. That didn't end up happening because of Aspen. The demon broke her seal and sacrificed her chance at life in order to save Ev and me. Ev had just found a spell that would break the curse placed on her hundreds of years ago and thus let her live in her own body again. She threw all that away in order to save us, Mom. She may be a demon, but she was our angel that day. She's been saving both of us for almost our whole lives.

"Ev hasn't recovered from losing Aspen. They had figured out a way to merge their souls to allow Ev to have more power, so when Aspen died, Ev felt like part of her soul was ripped away. Aspen was her constant companion, always with her. I won't ever know what that must have felt like. She is still really broken, Mom. I can't fix her either. She's got a tattoo of Aspen's symbol on her now since Aspen died. I think Aspen put the last part of her magic into Ev to protect her, but I don't know for sure. Ev can really only use basic requip magic now. She can't even use her emotion magic.

"After the battle, Gramps disbanded Fairy Tail, and we went to Blue Pegasus. It was familiar and a place to work. I went to help rebuild Era while she was mourning alone. I made it back just in time before Yuri decided to come early. Then I realized I was being a terrible father because I had no idea what the hell was going on. Ev did everything because I didn't put any effort into learning what I should be doing as a dad with a newborn. After she chewed me out, I changed. No more jobs, no more anything. Just my family. They are my life now, Mom. They are everything. I finally figured that out.

"Another war is coming. I don't think there is anything we can do to stop it. All I can do it hope that I'm strong enough to protect Ev and Yuri so that they survive. Anyway, I think Ev wanted you to meet our son," Laxus finished. Ev was walking back over with Yuri in her arms. He was asleep and curled up in her arms. Laxus took Yuri from her and held him close. That baby was his world. His reason to keep fighting.

"Mom, meet my son, Yuri. I know you'll be watching over him."

* * *

Laxus took Yuri back home while Evangeline went to see if Lucy was in Magnolia. Thankfully, Lucy was home for the new year.

"Oh, Evangeline! It's so good to see you," Lucy greeted, hugging her friend. Evangeline returned her hug.

"It's good to see you, too, Lucy," Evangeline said warmly.

"When did you get back to Magnolia?" Lucy asked her, waving her inside after they separated. They sat down on her couch.

"Yesterday. Laxus and I decided that we wanted to visit our parents and introduce Yuri to them," Evangeline explained.

"How are you two doing with him?" Lucy asked. Evangeline sighed.

"Well, he came early. A month early. So, he should only be a few weeks old, but he's a month and a half old. It's been exhausting, and Laxus didn't really get how to be a father at first, but now he's got it down. He was really scared, and he felt really bad about everything I had gone through and how I was doing, so he stayed away. We had a discussion about that, then it was like a flip switched right then and there. Ever since, it's just been the three of us being a family," Evangeline smiled.

"I'm glad everything's turned around for you. I know you were having a rough time, and to add pregnancy hormones into that would be horrible," Lucy shivered. Evangeline nodded.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come over to our house for dinner tonight. We may or may not have already bough enough lobster for three," Evangeline said sheepishly. Lucy blinked.

"Of course, I'd love to. I haven't had dinner with anyone not for business in so long," Lucy beamed. Evangeline knew that Lucy was hiding her feelings, though, even if she couldn't feel it with her magic. Evangeline would get her to release some of her feelings later. Maybe seeing Yuri would help.

The two women made their way to the Dreyar family home, and Lucy was floored. She hadn't ever been to the house herself but had heard Gray talking about how huge it was. Remembering Gray made her sad, since she hadn't seen him since he left with Juvia off to who knows where. Evangeline pulled Lucy inside to show her around.

Upon entering her home, Evangeline heard chaos in the kitchen and a crying Yuri. She sighed.

"Sorry, Lucy, I'll go get Yuri and be right back. You can sit down in the living room if you'd like," Evangeline told her friend. Lucy sat down on one of the large couches that were in the spacious room. Moments later, Evangeline entered with a tiny blond baby boy.

"Lucy, meet Yuri," Evangeline said, showing Lucy the boy. Evangeline sat down next to Lucy, and Lucy fell in love.

"He's beautiful, Evvie," Lucy said softly. Yuri was still fussing, and Evangeline got an idea.

"Would you like to hold him?" Evangeline asked. Lucy found herself nodding. Evangeline plopped the baby in Lucy's arms, and Yuri stopped fussing almost immediately. He didn't recognize the woman that was holding him.

"Hi Yuri, I'm your Auntie Lucy," Lucy told the baby, gently stroking his cheek. Yuri stared up at her, mesmerized. The two seemed to be off in their own little world. Evangeline nodded once, satisfied that she had managed to accomplish two things at once. The first being getting Lucy distracted, and the second being to get Yuri to stop crying. Evangeline stood and made her way over to the archway that was the opening to the living room. Laxus came up behind her.

"Did you ask her yet?" Laxus asked her. Evangeline shook her head and shushed him.

"Let them have a moment," Evangeline scolded. Laxus held his hands up in surrender.

"Dinner is ready, by the way, but it can wait for a bit," Laxus said, putting an arm around his wife's waist.

"Yeah, I'll let them stay like that for a moment. I know she was excited to finally meet him," Evangeline said, relaxing in her husbands hold. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Lucy noticed they were watching. Her face turned a bit pink.

"Sorry," she mumbled. Evangeline laughed and shook her head.

"Don't be sorry, Lucy. That's the most like yourself I've seen you since Tartaros. You needed that time. Anyway, we have something to ask you over dinner, which is ready by the way," Evangeline said as she picked up Yuri from Lucy's arms. Lucy stood and followed Evangeline and Laxus into their dining room. Evangeline set Yuri down in a swing and then joined the other two at the table.

"You said you had something to ask me?" Lucy asked as they started eating their lobster.

"Yeah, Ev had an idea that we think will be good for us all," Laxus said. Lucy looked at her friend.

"Lucy, we were wondering if you'd like to be Yuri's godmother," Evangeline said. Lucy dropped her fork.

"Really? Me?" Lucy asked in disbelief. Laxus and Evangeline nodded.

"Many reasons. One, you have a connection with him already, and you've only been around him for a few minutes. He isn't usually like that with strangers. Two, you are fiercely loyal to your friends. That's something we want him to learn as he grows up," Laxus started.

"Three, you will take care of him just as we would if something happens to us," Evangeline finished. "And a kind of fourth reason, you need a reason to smile right now, Lucy. You were just smiling for several minutes without even realizing it. You'll have more reasons to smile again in the future, but right now if he is the reason you smile, then that's fine with us."

"I don't know what to say," Lucy said, looking down at her lap. "I don't feel like I deserve it. Look what happened…"

"Lucy, you saved everyone. You made a decision that tore you apart, but it was the right decision. Sometimes the decisions we need to make are not the decisions we want to make. There was no other way," Evangeline reminded. Lucy sniffled.

"You aren't alone, Lucy. Fairy Tail may not physically exist anymore, but it still exists in us. Please help us teach our son what it means to be part of Fairy Tail," Laxus told her. Lucy was now fully crying, and Evangeline went and wrapped her arms around her friend.

"Thank you," Lucy said through her tears, wrapping her arms tightly around Evangeline. "I'd be honored."

**So, that's part one of this series of smaller chapters. I'm not sure how many of these there will be, but once I reach Alverez there will be usual 10k+ word chapters again. Thanks for waiting patiently!**


	13. Present: Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 13! **

_February 13__th__, x792_

It was the day before Valentine's day, and Laxus and Evangeline had no plans for the next day. Poor baby Yuri had his first cold, and the first time parents didn't want to leave their baby with anyone just so they could go out for a day.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come over?" Evergreen asked the two again over the communications lacrima.

"Yes, Ever, we just want to take care of Yuri this weekend and stay at home," Evangeline insisted. "Besides, Yuri might get you sick, too. I'm coming down with his cold. Thankfully Laxus hasn't yet. I don't want to take care of two babies that are sick."

"I resent that statement," Laxus called from his spot on the couch where he was holding a fussy Yuri. Evangeline laughed before coughing.

" You know it's true, though. Anyway, thank you for offering, Ever, but I think we just want to relax here. If you really want to do something, maybe get us some food? We're almost out," Evangeline relented. Evergreen's eyes lit up.

"Of course! I'll be by in two hours with some things for you to eat," Evergreen said hurriedly before she hung up.

"Your friends are interesting ones, love," Evangeline said, shaking her head.

"They are your friends too, you know," Laxus rolled his eyes.

"Indeed, they are," Evangeline smiled. She went over to the couch and sat down next to Laxus. Yuri started crying because he was uncomfortable.

"Poor kid. I hate this," Laxus sighed.

"Me too, but it's part of life. He won't develop an immune system if he doesn't get sick," Evangeline frowned.

"I know. I wish I didn't have to watch him be sick, though. I remember Romeo was sick constantly when he was little, and you were sick a lot too because you took care of him," Laxus reminded. Evangeline nodded.

"Hey, at least our immune systems will get better with a sick kid around," Evangeline shrugged. Yuri had stopped crying and was now falling asleep, thankfully.

"That's the only good thing," Laxus sighed. Evangeline curled up next to her husband and rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. It didn't take long before she fell asleep.

"Guess I'm going to be the one taking care of you again," Laxus mumbled, then kissed the top of her head.

Evergreen showed up just after Evangeline woke up from her nap and dropped off a wide variety off food, ranging from steak to fruit.

"Thank you, Ever," Evangeline said to her friend after they finished putting the food away.

"No problem, Evvie," Evergreen beamed. "Just glad I could do something. I'll be on my way now before I catch the Dreyar plague."

Evangeline laughed and shook her head, waving to her friend as she left.

"So, we have a plague now?" Laxus said from the living room.

"Apparently so. I think she's being a bit of a germaphobe. She's not really at risk of catching what we have just by being in the house," Evangeline grumbled.

"Oh well. Probably better for us to keep him away from everyone for a while when he's sick and a bit after," Laxus said. Evangeline nodded.

"Agreed. Now, food," Evangeline said. Evangeline then got to work making some sandwiches for the two of them.

"I'll make the steaks tomorrow," Laxus told her after putting Yuri in his swing. Yuri had stayed asleep thankfully and the two new parents could eat something. Evangeline found herself yawning midway through their meal.

"I think I'll take another nap after this," she yawned again. Laxus nodded.

"You sleep. I'll take care of the kid," Laxus told her. Evangeline finished her sandwich and put her plate in the sink before going upstairs to sleep in a real bed.

Laxus settled on the couch downstairs with a parenting book, following on his promise to his wife that he would be the best he could be. Part of him couldn't believe that he had actually been so absent and just plain bad at being a father as well. But, he also knew that part of it was the guilt that his own inner dragon was causing. He couldn't stand it when Evangeline was sick, and she was so sick her whole pregnancy.

He also had no idea what he was doing. Sure, he helped Evangeline raise Romeo when he was a newborn, but Romeo wasn't his kid. It was okay to mess up with Romeo, at least in his mind. Yuri was his kid. His world. He was so scared of messing up that he didn't want to be anywhere near Yuri for a while. Evangeline knew exactly what she was doing. She was safe. She was going to do everything to give their son the best life possible. He knew that he had to grow up and do the same.

Laxus was also terrified of becoming like his father. Ivan was cruel and abusive. Laxus didn't realize that at the time, but he knew it now. He swore to himself and his son that he would never do that. No child deserved a father that only wanted a child for power. Laxus would be fine if Yuri didn't end up wanting to practice magic at all. He would love it if he could teach the boy his own magic in the future, but as long as Yuri was happy and healthy, nothing else mattered.

The last thing that was always on the back of his mind was the impending war with Alvarez. It was inevitable, really. He didn't know when it would happen, nor did he know how he was going to keep his family safe from it. He knew Evangeline hadn't recovered most of her magic after losing Aspen, so she was likely going to be watching over Yuri. That meant he would have to fight. He would die a thousand times over if it meant keeping the two of them alive.

* * *

The next day came with Yuri and Evangeline both feeling a bit better. Yuri was still fussy, but nearly as much as he had been a few days before. Evangeline felt better because she actually got to sleep a decent amount for the first time in months. However, that morning, Evageline noticed that something was off about her husband.

"Laxus?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"What's on your mind? You've been quiet so far today. You aren't getting sick now, are you?" Evangeline frowned. Laxus shook his head.

"No, not getting sick. I was just thinking about what the future holds. The coming war. If Fairy Tail will ever get back together again," Laxus trailed off. Evangeline sighed.

"The war we can't do anything about. We know it will come. We don't know when. We aren't ready for it, but is anyone really ever ready for war? We just have to live for right now. The future is not in our control, but we can control what we do today. As for Fairy Tail, I can't imagine that it will stay broken up for long. We are too stubborn to stay away for too long," Evangeline said. Laxus nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you are right. I guess I'm just… scared. That I won't be able to protect you or Yuri," Laxus sighed. Evangeline rested her head on his shoulder.

"It's okay to be scared. I can't protect myself right now really because I still can't use my magic to the degree I need to. That also means that I can't protect Yuri as well as I want to be able to. After this kid starts to sleep better and grow up a little more I think I'll start trying to train again. Without Aspen, I won't ever be at the same level. I've come to accept she's gone now, but I want to know more about this mark. If she left some amount of herself in that, maybe, just maybe, I could send her off like she deserves. Or at least save my family another time," Evangeline told him.

"We will do what we have to. If the war comes before you are able to use your powers at a level you are comfortable with, I want you to take Yuri and run. Get yourselves somewhere safe. I know you don't want to, but you are the best person to be with him if something goes wrong, just incase that mark is some sort of protection."

"I would argue with you, but at this point I know I'm more of a liability than an asset. You will need to fight, there's no avoiding it. I just pray that you and everyone else will come home safe at the end of it all," Evangeline sighed.

"Everything will work out. All of us are too stubborn to die," Laxus smirked. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Of course you are."

* * *

_March 21__st__, x792_

Yuri was growing a lot. He wasn't quite able to sit up by himself yet at 5 months old, but he was getting quite close. He had recently started to laugh about everything around him. He loved hearing paper rip, as well as the sound of pots and pans clanging together. He didn't mind loud noises, and he was now a heavy sleeper.

"So, he should start sitting up and teething soon… What have we gotten ourselves into," Evangeline said, sighing. Yuri was growing up, and much too fast for her liking.

"He'll be fine. It's not going to be fun hearing him crying about his gums, though. Thankfully we have that cream from the old hag that should help," Laxus replied, dodging a book that Evangeline threw at him after he called Porlyusica an old hag.

"Watch your words. That woman has saved us both more times than we can count," Evangeline shook her head. Laxus held his hands up in surrender.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Anyway, I was thinking we could take a trip into Crocus. Just to take a mini vacation for a few days," Laxus brought up. Evangeline blinked.

"Like… Leaving Yuri at home vacation?" Evangeline asked. Laxus nodded.

"Ever had been begging me to let her babysit for a few days, and I figure Yuri is old enough now not to be too worried about. He's not quite as breakable as he was," Laxus shrugged. Evangeline nodded.

"I think that's a great idea. We barely ever leave this house it seems," Evangeline sighed. "If this was our other house, I wouldn't mind staying inside all the time, but we are here. This is just a house, even still."

"I know, Ev. That's why it will be good for us to get out. Although, I will warn you, the Legion has also been bugging me about going on jobs again. Not anything big or too dangerous, but just something to do. You know how they get," Laxus trailed off. He was nervous about bringing up working again with Ev, not wanting her to think that he was leaving everything on her.

"Laxus, you haven't been on a job in a long time. I think you are starting to look less like a god and more of a dad, in my opinion," Evangeline teased. Laxus let our a huff.

"Whatever you say, love. But if you are okay with it, I might try and find one at the end of next week to do over the weekend. I know that's kind of long, but I don't-" Laxus stated before Evangeline cut him off.

"Laxus, it's a weekend. We will be fine. Go, enjoy your break. Have fun with our friends. Practice your magic. We both know that magic is a muscle that needs to be used in order to remain strong. We will switch off who goes on what, okay? I know most mage parents don't even stay away this long. I could feel you were nervous, by the way," Evangeline told him with raised eyebrows.

"I thought you might think I was trying to distance myself again and just shove all responsibility onto you again after I promised I wouldn't do that again," Laxus mumbled. Evangeline got up from her spot on the couch and walked over to her husband and wrapped her arms around him.

"I know you will never do that willingly, Laxus. You've more than proven yourself. You are not your father. You are an amazing father to our son, but we also need to get back to being ourselves, too. We are mages. We live for adventure and danger. We can't forget that. Now, don't worry about it. Let's get to talking more about this vacation you had talked about."

* * *

Three days later, Evergreen had taken Yuri into her arms and basically threw Laxus and Evangeline out of their house. They both shook their heads.

"God, I don't even want to know what she will be like when her and Elfman finally get together and have kids," Laxus shivered. Evangeline laughed at this.

"She will be a good mom. She will keep Elfman in line. He might get carried away trying to push the kids to do more than they can," Evangeline shrugged. Laxus nodded in agreement.

"He might. I don't know, though. It's weird to be the only ones with a kid in our generation. Although, I'm not surprised it was us first. We were the only ones in a stable relationship anyway," Laxus sighed.

"Everyone else will get there. You have to remember that we are also the oldest out of our generation in Fairy Tail. I'd be concerned if someone had a kid before us. God, could you imagine Natsu as a dad?" Evangeline asked. Laxus paled.

"Oh hell no, that's never happening. Having one destructo is bad enough, but a kid is even worse. Anyway, I doubt he'd actually know what to do to even get into that situation in the first place," Laxus said, shaking his head.

"Well, they were all given the talk by Macao when Romeo turned 2," Evangeline made a face as she was trying not to laugh her ass off. Laxus paled.

"Oh God, those poor kids. Oh well, probably scared them enough not to be stupid," Laxus shuddered.

"Indeed. Now, we should be getting to our train before we miss it," Evangeline reminded. Laxus sighed.

"Do we have to take the train? I can teleport us to Crocus," Laxus whined. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"No. We are taking the train like regular people. You'll be fine, it's only three hours. You've had worse train rides before," Evangeline scolded.

"Fineee."

* * *

"So, what are our plans for the weekend?" Evangeline asked her husband.

"I've got tickets to that waterpark that Natsu and Gray destroyed at the Games, and I have some passes to the zoo, as well as to the aquarium. As for food, I figured we could stop by Seasons," he said as he got all their passes out of the right pocket of his coat. He had decided to take his coat our of retirement for their trip, seeing as they wouldn't have a baby possibly spitting up on it at random times. He loved his son, but he wouldn't be happy if his coat got stained by the baby.

"Sounds nice. I also see a spa ticket in there," Evangeline sang. Laxus smirked.

"I figured you needed some you time. Your appointment is at 3 tomorrow."

"Let me guess, you were summoned by the council for assistance with something and want me to relax and not worry about it?" Laxus blanched at that.

"Um. Yeah. I didn't want to worry you. More like I'm meeting with Levy and Gajeel about a job I'll be going on with them so we can plan out what to do beforehand and for more scenarios."

"Laxus, it's okay. I wish you told me beforehand, but I understand why you didn't. If there is anything you can tell me, then tell me when we get to the room, okay? I know council stuff gets… Messy."

"You know I would if I could," Laxus frowned. "But I'll talk to Levy and Gajeel about it."

"Alright. Anyway, it's time for us to relax for now. It's only two, so what's on the agenda for today?" And just like that, the two started their first real vacation in what felt like forever.

* * *

That afternoon, they went to the zoo and the aquarium, completely forgetting about dinner. They got room service because they couldn't be bothered to leave their hotel room again. The next morning, they went for brunch at Seasons, then Evangeline and Laxus parted ways for their afternoon plans. Evangeline got the best massage she'd ever had, and Laxus was stuck in a meeting about a dangerous guild that had appeared in the past two months that the council wanted to investigate further.

When Laxus returned to the hotel room after his planning session, he was tense. Evangeline noticed the change in him immediately.

"What happened?" Evangeline asked. Laxus had a frown stuck on his face.

"I'm worried. I think this is outside the scope of who they have selected for this mission," Laxus sighed out. Evangeline was getting very concerned.

"Laxus. You need to tell me who they picked to go on the inside," Evangeline told him. Laxus looked down.

"You aren't going to like it. You'll hate it more than I do," Laxus warned. Evangeline swallowed, feeling a pit in her stomach.

"Just tell me, please," she begged.

"They picked Gray," he muttered. Evangeline froze.

"Why? Why did they pick him?" Evangeline shivered.

"He was the only one for the job. The power he inherited after Tartaros makes him the perfect person to infiltrate," Laxus explained weakly.

"So what? Someone else, who was trained in it, would be the better option. He's going in there all alone, for God knows how long," Evangeline breathed in disbelief. Her brother was going in to a cult to tear them apart from the inside.

"Ev, he volunteered for this," Laxus said, shaking his head. This got Evangeline's attention from her mental spiral.

"But why?" her voice cracked at the end, tears streaming down her face.

"Ev, they are dangerous. They have a lot of powerful people, but Gray is smarter than he acts most times. He will be okay. He knows how to play a villain, and that's what he's going to do. He wants to protect everyone. Feels like it's all he's able to do right now," Laxus said as he wrapped his arms around her and brought her in close for a hug.

"He's able to do so much more without having to risk his life," Evangeline whimpered. Laxus cradled her close to his chest.

"I know, love, but he doesn't see it that way. He'd rather risk himself to keep you and Yuri and everyone else safe."

"I just want him to be okay. I didn't even know where he was all these months. Some sister I am. I'm supposed to take care of him."

"Ev, he can make his own decisions. He's not a kid anymore. He's grown up a lot, especially since Tartaros. Everyone did. Yeah, he's walking into danger, but he also knows that we have to wipe out this cult before the war, or else our odds get even slimmer. I tried to talk him out of it, but he was completely sound in his choice to do this. We just have to believe in him now," Laxus said. Evangeline sighed.

"You know, you sounded like Gramps for a bit there," she murmured. Laxus shook his head.

"Really? I try to calm you down and all I get is that I sound like Gramps?" he scoffed, faking being wounded by the statement. Evangeline giggled quietly, which made Laxus smile.

"He will be okay. He has to be," Evangeline said, nodding her head.

"He will be. He knows he has a sister and a nephew to get back to. And Juvia too, I think," Laxus trailed off. Evangeline stared at him.

"Wait… What?"

"They moved in together after Fairy Tail dispersed," Laxus shrugged. Evangeline blinked.

"I want to be excited about this but I figure she can't know what's going on. Why does life have to be so damn difficult," Evangeline whined.

"Because it's life. We live day to day, struggling to keep ourselves alive. Some people have it harder than others. That's usually us mages. We risk our lives every day to protect everyone else. We never know if that day will be our last. We don't have the luxury of taking our time or thinking of the future. We remember the bad moments. The bad moments give us perspective. The good moments give us the will to keep living. The whole goal of what we do is to hopefully be able to retire because we are no longer needed to fight the battles no one else can fight. But there will always be another battle. That's why we stay. That's why we teach our children magic. So that they can continue to protect themselves and everyone around them."

* * *

_August 17__th__, x792_

War was brewing. Evangeline could feel it in her bones. Lucy had been around with Team Natsu to recruit them back to Fairy Tail to prepare for the coming war. She and Laxus packed up their life at Blue Pegasus and returned home, but promised the their new friends could call on them whenever they needed the Thunder Legion. Gray had been brought out of his deep cover when Team Natsu showed up and annihilated Avatar, and Evangeline was quite thankful for it. The moment when Gray met Yuri for the first time was heart melting, even to the most hardened of people.

"Laxus. I'm not ready to fight in this," Evangeline said while sitting with her husband outside on the bench on their bedroom balcony. It was nighttime, and the stars were out and shining, but they weren't as bright as usual. It's like they knew what was coming.

"I know. You remember where we talked about you going?" Laxus asked. Evangeline nodded.

"North, almost to the border. To the town that gave us the lilies for our big wedding," Evangeline recited.

"You need to leave tomorrow. We don't know what they will be coming. Gramps said they'd be here soon, and that we aren't ready to do this alone." Laxus's tone was serious. Evangeline closed her eyes.

"We won't be alone, Laxus. The other guilds have all agreed to help us. It's not Fairy Tail against Alvarez, it's Fiore against Alvarez. But I agree. We don't know when they will be here. I've already got emergency bags packed," she sighed. The couple went to bed, not knowing if or when they would see each other again. Little did they know what the future held.

**Okay, I decided to end the mini-series. Alvarez war is the next chapter, and it is bound to be a long one. I figured having a short chapter for a change isn't the worst thing. I'm working on several other projects that I'm not ready to post yet, but they will be coming soon! Keep your eyes open for them. I hope you are all well. WEAR YOUR DAMN MASK! For people like me.**


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